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THE HEROIC RECORD OF 
THE BRITISH NAVY 



THE HEROIC RECORD 

of the 

BRITISH NAVY 

A Short History of 

the Naval War 

1914-1918 

BY 
ARCHIBALD KURD 

AND 

H. H. BASHFORD 




Garden City New York 

DOUBLED AY, PAGE & COMPANY 

1919 



m 






COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY 

DOUBLEDAT, PAGE & COMPANY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLTJDING THAT OF 

TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, 

mCLTJDING THE SCANDINAVIAN 



©CI.A530128 

JUL 10 I9ib Q 



To the generous help and criticisms of many participants in 
the events hereafter recorded, and particularly to Admirals 
Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa Flow and W. S. Sims of the 
United States Navy; to Vice- Admirals Sir F. Doveton 
Sturdee and Sir Reginald H. Bacon; and to Lieutenant- 
Commander A. D. TurnbuU of the United States Navy, the 
authors desire to express their most grateful acknowledgment. 



CONTENTS 



FAQB 



Foreword ix 



CHAFTEB 



I. August 4, 1914 3 

11. The Battle of the Bight 24 

iii. coronel 44 

IV. The Battle of the Falkland Islands . 59 

V. Back to the North Sea 84 

VI. The Seamen at Gallipoli 100 

Vn. Sub-mariners of England . ... . . 151 

VIII. The Battle of Jutland . 167 

EX. The Dover Patrol 201 

X. The Sealing of Zeebrugge and Ostend . 222 

XI. The Coming of the Americans . . . 251 

Xn. The Harvest of Sea Power .... 283 

Index 297 



FOREWORD 

IN THE years immediately preceding the Great 
War, already so hard to reconstruct, it was not 
uncommonly suggested that the British seafaring 
instinct had begun to decline. In our professional 
navy most thinkers had confidence, as in a splendid 
machine ably manned; but, as regarded the popula- 
tion as a whole, it was feared that modern industrial- 
ism was sapping the old sea-love. That this has been 
disproved we hope to make clear in the following 
pages — a first attempt, as we believe, to give, in nar- 
rative form, a reasonably complete and consecutive 
history of the naval war. We have indeed gone fur- 
ther, for we have tried to show not only that the 
spirit of admiralty has survived undiminished, but 
that we have witnessed such a re-awakening of it, 
both in Great Britain and America, as has had no 
parallel since the days of Elizabeth. We have also 
tried to make clear that, in a thousand embodiments, 
in men and boys fallen or still living, it has shone with 
a spiritual even more than any material significance; 
and that it has again declared itself to be the peculiar 
expression in world-affairs of the English-speaking 
races. 

Nor was the little apparent interest shown, just 
before the war, in the navy and the navy's exercises 
very remarkable. Our attitude, as a people, toward 



X FOREWORD 

it had always been a curious union of apathy and 
adventure. We had been sea-worshippers so long 
that our reverence had often been dulled by much 
familiarity, and to such an extent, at times, that, only 
by the supremest efforts, had we, as a nation, es- 
caped catastrophe. But if, on the one hand, we had 
lost the neophyte's fire, we had perhaps gained a 
little in tolerance. The seas had not found in us 
jealous masters. Our harbours and ships had been 
at the world's disposal. No empire in history had 
been so leisurely or less designedly built up, as none 
was to prove, perhaps, to have been so apparently 
loosely but yet so organically knit — probably because 
the idea of empire had always meant less to us than 
the growing idea of admiralty. Nor is that so ob- 
scure as it may at first seem, since, in spite of so much 
outward indifference, the call of the sea, as closer 
examination will show, was still among the most 
insistent to which we responded. There was scarcely 
a cottage, for instance, even in the remotest high- 
lands, in which the picture of a ship did not hang 
upon the walls, or that had failed to send a son or a 
brother or a cousin to serve either in the navy or the 
mercantile marine. Even in the greyest and most 
smoke-laden of our central industrial cities, wherever 
there was a pond, the children sailed their little boats 
upon it; and, once a year, as to some lustral rite, the 
town-bred inhabitant took his family to the coast. 

That these were indications of any racial signifi- 
cance the non-seagoing Briton had seldom, perhaps, 
realized. That, because of them, his language had 
become a familiar tongue in the uttermost parts of the 



FOREWORD xi 

earth; that because of them every would-be world- 
tyrant, since Philip of Spain, had been frustrated; 
that because of them the freedom of nations, no less 
than that of individuals, had slowly become human- 
ity's gospel — this had been as little present to him 
as to the inhabitant of Turnham Green that he was 
living in the greatest harbour of the world; and yet 
that it was so was but a matter of fact, and indeed the 
natural outcome of our origin. Since Britain had be- 
come an island every wave of invaders had necessarily 
come to it in ships and with experience of the sea. 
However various may have been their other contribu- 
tions to the ultimate nation into which they were to 
be merged, this had been common to them. They 
had all been seamen, of whatever temperament or 
complexion; and, while of the earliest inhabitants of 
what are now the British Islands, no boat-lore can be 
definitely postulated, the discovery of the famous 
barge in the Carse of Stirling shows that, 3,000 years 
before Christ, there must have been some knowledge 
of navigation; while, of the first Celtic immigrants 
enough must be assumed, at any rate, to have enabled 
them successfully to cross the Channel. 

Of these the Gaelic Celts, landing from Spain upon 
the coasts of Devon and Cornwall and in Ireland, 
seem to have been the pioneers, followed by a stronger 
invasion of Cymric Celts, who landed in Kent and 
Essex, and afterward drove the Gaels before them 
into the northern and western fastnesses. Of later 
Aryans, the first members of the great Teutonic 
family to land on these shores were, almost certainly, 
the Belgae, who settled on the south and east coasts ; 



xii FOREWOED 

while the Scillies and Cornwall appear to have been 
regularly visited by Phoenician traders and Greek 
merchants from Marseilles — a sea-borne commerce 
that continued for many years after the first Roman 
expedition. 

This took place under Julius Csesar/first in b. c. 55, 
and its ostensible purpose seems to prove the exist- 
ence of some kind of pre-Roman British fleet — 
Caesar's declared object being to punish the Britons 
for having sent assistance in ships and men to the 
Veneti, a kindred Celtic tribe, with which he was at 
war on the mainland. He appears to have encoun- 
tered no opposition from it, however, for when he set 
sail from the coast of France, somewhere between the 
present ports of Calais and Boulogne, his fleet of war- 
galleys and transports crossed unchallenged, as far 
as the sea was concerned. 

Achieving little more on his first visit than a dem- 
onstration of the power of Rome, on his return, a few 
months later, with 30,000 men, including cavalry, he 
penetrated deeply inland, although it was not until 
nearly a century later that Britain became definitely 
a Roman province; and it was not until the reign of 
Vespasian at Rome and his deputy Julius Agricola in 
Britain that Roman vessels for the first time circum- 
navigated Great Britain and Scotland. The father- 
in-law of Tacitus, and himself an extremely able and 
far-sighted administrator, it was by Agricola that the 
earliest definite foundations of what was to become 
the British nation may be said to have been laid. 
Seeming the confidence of the islanders, he not only 
encouraged amongst them the absorption of Roman 



FOREWORD xiii 

culture, but protected them against any excess of 
official exploitation; and, although he was presently 
recalled by the Emperor Domitian, the principles 
of administration that he had laid down were gen- 
erally adopted and developed by his successors 
in office — forming, in many respects, those of that 
greater empire whose foundations were already being 
laid. 

It would be hard to exaggerate, indeed, the debt of 
the nations of British origin to the three and a half 
centuries of Roman rule, during which period the 
Christian religion was first preached in these islands. 
And, though it failed, if that had been its design, to 
create a strong and independent and self-governing 
colony — so that when the Roman power was finally 
withdrawn, owing to impending disasters at the core 
of the Empire, the Islanders became a prey, if not an 
easy one, to the next Saxon invaders — ^its legend of 
equity as between man and man, its perception and 
methods of development of natural resources, and its 
patient thoroughness of execution appealed to the 
minds and survived in the practice of every succeed- 
ing race of immigrants. 

That together with these qualities and those to be 
infused with the next current of invasion there wag a 
real love of the sea among this early population has 
sometimes been doubted; and Ruskin in one of his 
essays seems definitely to deny this, adducing Chau- 
cer as an argument. In this great poet of a later 
period, the first representative voice of emerging Eng- 
land, he finds no expression of it and indeed a positive 
aversion from all that the sea and sea-travel stood for. 



xiv FOREWORD 

But whether or not that be the case, and though there 
were undoubtedly periods, notably just before the 
rise of Alfred, wherein the nation as a whole, if it may 
so be spoken of, had largely forgotten the importance 
of sea-power, each of the three great tribes, who had 
then overrun the land, had depended for their success 
upon their maritime skill. 

Saxons and Jutes and Angles, they had all been 
coast-dwellers upon the Weser, the Elbe, and the 
Ems, the sea-banks between them, and the tongue of 
land dividing the Baltic from the North Sea; and, 
while a certain number of them had already become 
settlers in Britain, attracted by its prosperity under 
Roman rule, the majority had been pirates, with an 
established reputation as amongst the bravest and 
fiercest of ocean-adventurers. Bold as they were, 
however, and disorganized as the Romanized Britons 
had become, upon the withdrawal of the tutelage of 
their governors, it was nearly two centuries before 
Great Britain could be said to have become definitely 
Anglo-Saxon, and yet another two before the new- 
comers themselves had established any sort of unity; 
and already, by that time, fresh bodies of invaders 
had begun to make their presence felt. 

These were the Wikings or Vikings, men of the 
Scandinavian fiords, racially allied with the original 
Saxon conquerors, but whose subsequent conversion 
both to Christianity and what seemed to them the 
tamer life of agriculture, they affected to regard with 
indignation, not unmixed with contempt. Carrying 
their arms into every known sea, and believed to have 
been the first discoverers of America, these Vikings 



FOREWORD XV 

saw in Great Britain, with its increasing fertility, an 
ideal and convenient theatre of war. 

As early as the later years of the eighth century, 
they were making sporadic raids upon the North- 
umbrian coast, and, in 832, they sailed up the Thames, 
ravaged the Isle of Sheppey, and escaped unscathed. 
A year later, they attacked the coast of Dorset, and, 
in 834, they joined the Cornish Celts, when they were 
defeated, however, by Egbert, King of Wessex — the 
first, in any real sense. King of England. 

But this was little more than a local defeat, and 
almost every succeeding year saw further raids, until, 
in 855, a squadron actually entrenched in Sheppey 
and proceeded to spend the winter there — the first 
indication in the minds of the Northmen of serious 
ideas of invasion. From 866 to 870, they made at- 
tacks in such force and with such ferocity that, by 
the beginning of 871, the whole of England, north of 
the Thames, lay at their mercy; while, several years be- 
fore this, permanent settlements of Danes had taken 
place in Ireland, the Shetland Islands, the Hebri- 
des, and the Orkneys. 

This was the situation when, at the age of twenty- 
two, Alfred, afterward to be called the Great, as- 
cended to the throne. Nor could he well have be- 
come king at a less propitious moment. For, with the 
whole of the north and east now firmly in their grasp, 
the Danes were already pressing upon Wessex. A 
battle fought almost immediately after his accession 
to the throne was rather in the nature of a draw than 
a victory; and, although the enemy withdrew for a 
time, a few years later found Alfred at bay in the 



xvi FOREWORD 

marshes of West Somerset, with the Danes over- 
running and apparently in secure possession of some 
of the most fertile parts of his kingdom. 

Fortunately for his people, however, Alfred, for'all 
his refinement, his love of culture, and cosmopolitan 
boyhood, had inherited in full measure the stubborn 
Saxon refusal to accept either slavery or defeat; and, 
a few months later, rallying to his standard an army 
of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Somersetshire men, he 
inflicted upon the Danes, at the battle of Ethandun, 
the severest defeat that they had yet sustained. By 
the treaty of Wedmore in 878, he secured the integrity 
of the south and west, recognizing that, in the north 
and east, the Danish element was not only too strong 
to be expelled, but was already becoming welded, not 
wholly to its disadvantage, with the national life. He 
agreed, therefore, for his own part, to recognize the 
Danish influence upon the other side of Watling 
Street, at the same time persuading its representative 
leaders to forsake their paganism and embrace Chris- 
tianity. 

Against further aggression, however, from abroad, 
he determined at all costs to protect the Island; and 
he was the earliest of his line to realize that his coun- 
try's first defense was the sea that washed its shores. 
Already, in 875, he had been the victor in Swanage 
Bay over a small but strong fleet of pirates; and, after 
the peace of Wedmore, he set himself to the serious 
construction and effective distribution of a fleet of 
war. With no lack of raw material, with good crafts- 
men, and with a maritime jx)pulation needing nothing 
but initiative, he built a navy that, in respect of per- 



FOREWORD xvii 

sonnet no less than in technical equipment, soon out- 
classed that of the Danes. Distributed round the 
coast, he had, according to varying accounts, from 
120 to 300 warships; and, behind this bulwark, for the 
next fifteen years, England achieved an almost miracu- 
lous degree of progress. In 896, after a considerable 
struggle, another attempted invasion was crushed, 
and Alfred's fleet, grown in strength and experience, 
extinguished the recurrence of piracy that had accom- 
panied it. Merciful in character and tolerant in 
statesmanship, toward these pirates he showed no 
clemency, and, when he died in 901, he left a country 
prosperous and at peace and with its sea-boards in- 
violate. 

To what extent his son ana grandson, Edward the 
Elder and Athelstan, appreciated the full significance 
of sea-power we do not know; but it is interesting 
that Athelstan, during whose brilliant reign the Dan- 
ish portions of England were largely reabsorbed, 
conferred the dignity of thane-ship upon any mer- 
chant who had made three voyages of length in his 
own trading vessel — thereby fostering, and even per- 
haps founding, the dynasty of those merchant-adven- 
turers, upon whom in years to come, and on seas then 
unknown, Britain was to climb to a destiny beyond 
his imaginings. Nor can the work of Alfred and 
Athelstan, in these respects, be discounted because of 
the eclipse that followed in the reign of Ethelred, and 
that led to the passing of England, predominantly 
Saxon, under Danish sovereignty for a quarter of a 
century, and then, after a further period of twenty- 
four years, under the permanent rule of the Normans. 



xviii FOREWORD 

Tenacious of its rights, impossible to dragoon, there 
has always been a strain of inertia in the Saxon char- 
acter — the reflex of that tolerance, perhaps, which has 
in so many respects been the secret of its influence 
throughout the world; and it was probably inevitable 
that there should have been phases in our national 
growth, and especially in its adolescence, when this 
should have seemed to be uppermost. To the minor- 
ity Celt, with his quicker wits, this has often and 
justly '^een a subject of annoyance. In it the Nor- 
mans, conscious in their persons of the latest current 
of oversea adventure, avid of culture, and contemp- 
tuous of Ignorance, saw, and at once seized, their 
opportunity. For men of their enterprise, intellectual 
subtlety, and disciplined military energy, the pros- 
perous island, with its clannish dissensions and lack of 
organization, seemed an obvious prey. And if, in the 
immediate moment, they were largely successful ow- 
ing to the flank attack upon Harold by his brother 
Tostig, it was to a lack of vision, curiously Anglo- 
Saxon, that they were hardly less indebted for their 
victory. 

Gathering for the defense of the realm, both by 
land and sea, the largest forces that had ever been 
collected in England, had William and his armies tied 
to land a month or two earlier they might well have 
done so in vain. But with August and September 
came the demands of the harvest, the autumn plough- 
ing, and the neglected farms. As so often before and 
since in English history, the parochial and individual 
obscured the national. William had not come. Per- 
haps he would never come. The discontented soldiery 



FOREWORD xix 

could not be kept together. The ships of the Fleet, 
or many of them, had to return for re-fitting, and, 
when on September 28th, William arrived at Peven- 
sey, three days after Harold had defeated his brother 
at Stamford Bridge, it was to land unopposed both on 
shore and at sea. Moreover, there was yet another 
factor, and one also that was to recur again and again 
in English history — a failure, fresh from military 
victory, to appreciate the value of sea-power — that 
contributed not a little to Harold's defeat. By Octo- 
ber 14th, the date of the Battle of Hastings, the 
English Fleet had again been mobilized, and held the 
Channel. Between their position in Sussex and their 
base in France, the Normans' connections had been 
cut; and, just as in later years it was Nelson's "storm- 
tossed ships upon which the Grand Army never 
looked " that stood between Napoleon and the domin- 
ion of the world, so might Harold's, had he tru'sted 
them more fully, have stood between William of Nor- 
mandy and the conquest of England. 

With William's forces dependent for their supplies 
upon the rapidly dwindling stores of the surrounding 
country; with that silent pressure behind him of 
England's naval power — there would have been time 
and plenty, had Harold been content to wait, for the 
English armies to have consolidated themselves in 
overwhelming strength. But it was not to be. Daz- 
zled by his recent success, and thinking in terms of 
armies rather than navies, he forced the issue and was 
defeated, and England passed under Norman power; 
and yet so incompletely that there are few English- 
men of to-day who, on reading the story of the Battle 



xxii FOREWORD 

by right of its position and history, a wider destiny 
opening overseas. Fighting more stubbornly than 
ever against every attempt to make it an appanage of 
Europe, the eyes of England began to turn more and 
more constantly to those just-discovered realms with 
their incalculable future. In the imagination of the 
Celt, the organizing power of the Roman, the tenacity 
of the Saxon, the daring of the Norman, and in the 
sea-lore of them all, it seemed that Fate had been 
slowly forging a new instrument for the new task. It 
was only the realization of it that was to seek in the 
composite race that had thus been built up; and it is 
not too much to say, perhaps, that the loss of Calais 
was the right-about-turn that brought this about. 
Not Europe but the West was the new watchword. 
But the corollary to that was a new conception of the 
sea. It was no longer the means of defense, insulat- 
ing Britain from her foes. It was the highway of her 
full and peculiar national expression. As never before 
and not often perhaps since, the sense of what admir- 
alty meant flooded through the nation; and though, 
as in all the enterprises of human society, the motives 
in this one were no doubt mixed — though the desire 
for gold and the lust of fighting for fighting's sake 
were dominant in the minds of many of those sailors 
— it is equally clear that, for the best and finest of 
them, the idea of admiralty had a definite spiritual 
meaning. 

As we gather from their letters and records, they 
had begun to realize in themselves the upholders and 
missionaries of a nobler life. They were in true suc- 
cession to the best of those Norman knights, whose 



FOREWORD xxiii 

spiritual contribution to England they had inherited; 
and, in admiralty, as they dreamed of it, we may trace 
the reincarnation, with a fuller and wider outlook, of 
that older chivalry. 

These then were their objects, and the means was 
the navy, whose first foundations, as we now know it, 
had already been laid in the reign of Elizabeth's 
father, Henry VIII. Up to that time, though the 
Government had possessed the right, in times of war, 
to employ merchant shipping, there had been no 
definite navy, permanently established, in the modern 
sense of the word. In return for certain privileges, 
merchant ship-owners — and especially, in earlier 
days, those of the Cinque Ports — were under con- 
tract, on demand of the king, to supply a specified 
number of vessels, manned and equipped for war. It 
was with fleets so assembled that, in 1212, the Eng- 
lish had raided Fecamp and prevented a French in- 
vasion; that, two years later, in a similar action under 
William Longs word, they had again destroyed the 
French Fleet; and that, in 1334, one of the greatest 
British naval victories had been won at Sluys over 
vastly superior numbers. And, though the Cinque 
Ports had, by this time, already dwindled from their 
earlier importance, similar arrangements were in 
force, when Henry VIII came to the throne, with the 
merchant shippers of Bristol, Plymouth, Newcastle, 
and many other quickly growing ports. 

Under Henry VIII, however, we find coming into 
being the important Government dockyards of Ports- 
mouth, Deptford, and Woolwich, and every provision 
made for the regular supply of the timber requisite 



xxiv FOREWORD 

for their needs. The same reign witnessed the estab- 
lishment of the Navy Office, out of which our present 
Admiralty has grown, and the granting of a charter to 
Trinity House — that corporation of "godly disposed 
men who, for the actual suppression of evil disposed 
persons bringing ships to destruction by the shewing 
forth of false beacons, do bind themselves together 
in the love of our Lord Christ, in the name of the 
Master and Fellows of the Trinity Guild, to succour 
from the dangers of the sea all who are beset upon the 
coasts of England, to feed them when a-hungered, to 
bind up their wounds, and to build and light proper 
beacons for the guidance of mariners." And, al- 
though at the time of the Armada, as indeed ever 
since in moments of maritime urgency, a large bulk of 
the British Fleet consisted of transformed merchant- 
men belonging to private owners, the Elizabethan 
admirals found at their disposal the rudiments, at any 
rate, of a specialized navy. 

How gloriously, and to what purpose, against what 
was then the greatest Power in the world, they used 
their inferior instrument, with its improvised auxili- 
aries, is the birth-story of British admiralty. Pitted 
not only for life, but, as it was to turn out, for the 
common freedom of the seas, they showed the world a 
spectacle of such a victory against odds as it had 
scarcely beheld since the Homeric ages. On the one 
hand, it saw an empire, one of the greatest ever 
known, under the ablest of statesmen and soldiers — 
an empire including Spain and Portugal, most of the 
Netherlands, and nearly the whole of Italy; Tunis, 
Oran, Cape Verde, and the Canary Islands in Africa; 



FOREWORD XXV 

Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Cuba in America; the mas- 
tery of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic; and a 
yearly revenue ten times that of England — and on the 
other a little island, of which Wales and Scotland were 
still largely independent, containing a population less 
by two million than that of London and its suburbs 
to-day, and possessing beyond its own coast not a 
yard of territory overseas. 

Such were the odds, and the issue was but one more 
instance of the inevitable decisiveness of the human 
factor — a factor that to-day, perhaps, such has been 
the extravagant growth in the weight and precision of 
modern weapons, has tended to become once more a 
little obscured. That history has revealed it again, 
just as it revealed it for us in the case of the Elizabeth- 
ans, we hope to show; and, if fortune fought for them, 
it was not until they had proved themselves superior 
to it in skill, courage, and equanimity. 

"Touching my poor opinion," wrote Sir Francis 
Drake to Queen Elizabeth on April 15, 1588, "how 
strong your_^ Majesty's Fleet should be to encounter 
this great force of the enemy, God increase your most 
excellent Majesty's forces both by sea and land daily; 
for this I surely think there was never any force so 
strong as there is now ready or maldng ready against 
your Majesty and true religion, but that the Lord of 
all strength is stronger and will defend the truth of 
His word, for His own name's sake, unto the which be 
God all glory given. Thus all humble duty, I con- 
tinually will pray to the Almighty to bless and give 
you victory over all His, and your enemies." 

"We met with this fleet," wrote Hawkins to Sir 



xxvi FOREWORD 

Francis Walsyngham on July 31st in the same year, 
"somewhat to the westward of Plymouth upon Sun- 
day in the morning, being the 21st of July, where we 
had some small fight with them in the afternoon. By 
the coming aboard one of the other of the Spaniards, 
a great ship, a Biscayan, spent her foremast and bow- 
sprit; which was left by the fleet in the sea, and so 
taken up by Sir Francis Drake the next morning. 
The same Sunday there was, by a fire chancing by a 
barrel of powder, a great Biscayan spoiled and aban- 
doned, which my Lord took up and sent away. The 
Tuesday following, athwart of Portland, we had a 
sharp and long fight with them, wherein we spent a 
great part of our powder and shot, so as it was not 
thought good to deal with them any more till that 
was relieved. The Thursday following, by the oc- 
casion of the scattering of one of the great ships from 
the fleet, which we hoped to have cut off, there grew 
a hot fray, wherein some store of powder was spent, 
and after that, little done till we came near to Calais, 
where the fleet of Spain anchored, and our fleet by 
them; and because they should not be in peace there, 
to refresh their water or to have conference with 
those of the Duke of Parma's party, my Lord Ad- 
miral, with firing of ships, determined to remove 
them; as he did, and put them to the seas; in which 
broil the chief galleass spoiled her rudder and so rode 
ashore near the town of Calais, where she was pos- 
sessed of our men, but so aground as she could not be 
brought away. That morning, being Monday, the 
29th of July, we followed the Spaniards, and all that 
day had with them a long and great fight, wherein 



FOREWORD xxvii 

there was great valour shown generally of our com- 
pany." 

A few days later, Admiral Howard, also writing to 
Sir Francis Walsyngham, said, "In our last fight with 
the enemy, before Gravelines, the 29th of July, we 
sunk three of their ships, and made some go near the 
shore, leaking so they were not able to live at sea. 
After that fight, notwithstanding that our powder 
and shot was well near all spent, we set on a brag 
countenance and gave them chase, as though we had 
wanted nothing, until we had cleared our own coast, 
and some part of Scotland of them." 

Such were the Fathers of admiralty as to-day we 
envisage it; and, dark as some of our naval pages have 
since been, their tradition has never died, or lacked 
among us sons to sustain and adorn it in larger issues. 
There have been times when the country in general 
and its statesmen in particular have lost or under- 
valued their sea- vision. In 1667, less than eighty 
years after the defeat of the Armada, and scarcely 
ten after the death of Blake, one of the greatest 
figures in English naval history, to such a pass had 
our naval administration come that the Dutch were 
able to sail almost unchallenged up the Med way; to 
destroy the booms and half -equipped battleships; to 
capture the Royal Charles as a trophy; for several 
weeks to blockade London; and, in the end, to compel 
the English Government to a disadvantageous peace. 

Fortunately that was a lesson that England never 
forgot, and, though there were to follow lapses, not a 
few, in the struggles that followed against the lust for 
world-power, first of Louis XVI, and, a hundred vears 



xxviii FOREWORD 

later, of Napoleon, the navy of England played a not 
unworthy and probably a decisive part. In Hawke 
and Rodney and Hood, and supremely in Nelson, in 
their unremembered captains and too-often ill- 
requited men, the spirit of the great Elizabethans 
lived again and ultimately prevailed, as it was bound 
to do. Not less for peoples in the comity of nations 
than" for individuals in smaller societies, the highest 
task is to put at the disposal of human progress their 
characteristic genius. In military capacity, never 
the equal of France; behind many other nations in 
certain of the arts and sciences; lacking the spiritual 
insight of the East and the buoyant versatility of the 
West, this maritime adequacy, this gift of admiralty, 
seems, by virtue of her history, to have been allotted 
to Britain — and she has always been at her greatest, 
both for herself and for mankind, when she and her 
statesmen have realized this most fully. 

That among her seamen this conception was as 
strong as ever, the history of the Great War has 
abundantly made clear, little as most of them 
dreamed, on that July morning, to be described in 
our first chapter, that they were on the verge of an 
ordeal, in which humanity's fate would lie in their 
hands as never in history. And yet, had they been 
gifted with a vision of what was to come, certain 
doubts might well have been pardoned in them. 
Colossal as the machinery was, it was largely untried. 
New methods and engines, with unforeseeable pos- 
sibilities, were already in embryo or in actual being. 
The submarine, the airship, the mine — in less than 
half an hour, a fleet might be at the bottom. Recent 



FOREWORD xxix 

naval campaigns had shown that, whereas a century 
before, it had been the exception for a stricken ship 
to sink, it was now the exception for it to float; and 
what of the men in a modern naval battle? 

For it would have to be remembered that, while on 
the one hand the terrors of naval warfare had im- 
measurably increased, the men who had to endure 
them had become, on the other, the educated prod- 
ucts of a more sensitive civilization. Whereas, even in 
Nelson's time, the majority of British seamen were 
quite unable to read or write, and were too often, for 
all their courage, little better than human animals — 
many had been impressed by slum raids in seaport 
towns, and disciplined by a brutality now scarcely 
imaginable — the sailors of to-day, if of the same fibre, 
were men of a wholly different upbringing. They were 
the brothers of the shop-attendants, the men in the 
counting-house, the skilled workmen with their trade 
unions. They were even better educated than these, 
with a mellower, deeper, and more humorous philos- 
ophy of life. For them the navy was a career, from 
boyhood to old age, with solid rewards — and not 
a last resort. How would their new refinement 
weather the storm? 

In the following pages we have tried to answer 
this, as often as possible, in their own words. 



THE HEROIC RECORD OF 
THE BRITISH NAVY 



THE HEROIC RECORD OF THE 
BRITISH NAVY 

CHAPTER I 

THE FOURTH OF AUGUST, 1914 

Roman, Phcenician, Saxon, Dane, 
From these white shores turned not again. 
Save to the sea that bore them hence, 
For their delight or their defense. 
Judgment, persuasion, daring, thrift. 
Each to the others lent his gift. 
To whom, when all had shared, the sea 
Added her own of admiralty. 

IT WAS early on the morning of July 20, 1914, 
that a couple of guests, who had courteously 
., been invited to be present in the gunboat Niger 
for the King's inspection of the Fleet, made their way 
through the sleeping streets toward Portsmouth 
Dockyard. There were to be no manceuvres this year 
since, as had already been announced in March, a test 
mobilization of the Third Fleet was to take their 
place. This Third Fleet consisted of the older ships 
of the navy, and depended for a large proportion of 
its personnel upon the Royal Fleet Reserve — a body 
of ex-naval seamen and other ratings, brought into 
being under Lord Goschen, and afterward strength- 
ened and reorganized by the Selborne administration 



4 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of 1902 onward. To man this fleet had necessitated 
the calling of about 10,000 seamen and 1,500 marines 
— all of them volunteers from civil life; and its assem- 
blage at Spithead with the First and Second Fleets 
had secured, between the Hampshire coast and the 
Isle of Wight, the greatest exhibition of naval power 
that the world had then seen. 

Since Wednesday, July 15th, the various units and 
squadrons had been gathering to their appointed 
stations, in some places eleven lines deep; whUe, 
upon the same occasion, and for the first time, there 
had been a full mobilization of the naval air forces. 
Less dramatic than the usual manoeuvres, and un- 
accompanied by any of the splendour that had at- 
tended most previous Royal reviews, this test mobili- 
zation — this bringing into being of the full fighting 
power of our naval reserves — was so valuable an 
exercise that, as Mr. Winston Churchill, the First 
Lord of the Admiralty, had said in his announcement 
of it, it was a matter for some surprise that it had 
never before been undertaken. Nevertheless, as a 
national spectacle, it had attracted but little public 
attention, as the blinded windows and empty streets 
of Southsea and Portsmouth testified. 

Grey as steel from vault to horizon but for a single 
wavering streak of blue, there seemed little prospect 
in the sky overhead of the fine day that the sailors 
had foretold; and nothing could have been more 
sombre than the early morning scene when, without 
ceremony and almost unnoticed, the Royal Yacht, 
with the King on board, left her berth in the Dock- 
yard. Picking her course slowly past the Sally Port, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 5 

so beloved by Marryat, she steamed through the 
choppy waters to her place at the head of the great 
fleet; and it was not until she reached Spithead, 
unsaluted by flag or gun, that the clouds up above 
began to break, and the sun to shine down on that 
floating city, now beginning briskly to awake to life. 

Long before the little Niger, indeed, was herself 
out in the Solent, all the long lines were fully astir. 
Trim picket-boats, scattering spray, were plying up 
and down with mails and provisions. Cables were 
rattling till only a single anchor held each of the great 
ships in her proper position. Flags and semaphores 
were busy with final instructions. Veils of smoke 
began to wreathe in the air; and then, at the Admir- 
al's signal, and with no other pageantry than that 
inherent in its own latent might, the vast assembly, 
with deliberate precision, began to get under way and 
out to sea. 

Led by the Royal Yacht, the Victoria and Albert, 
her graceful black hull streaked with gold — preceded, 
according to custom, by the state vessel of the Elder 
Brethren of Trinity House — by the time the Iron 
Duke, at the head of the First Fleet's battleships, 
came abreast of the Nab Lightship, the Royal Yacht 
was already at anchor to receive the salutes of the 
departing navy. For two whole hours the King stood 
on the bridge, while ship after ship filed before him, 
each of the larger battleships an embodiment of 
greater strength than was represented by the whole 
fleet that had destroyed the Armada, and each of the 
battle-cruisers capable of a speed and striking-power 
that, a century before, would have seemed but. the 



6 THE HEROIC RECORD 

wildest of dreams. These were led by the Lion, fly- 
ing the flag of a then comparatively unknown oflficer, 
Sir David Beatty, who, only the evening before, had 
received the honour of knighthood on board the 
Royal Yacht. 

Following the Lion and her consorts came the light 
cruisers, and after these the destroyers and sub- 
marines, each of the latter submerging and rising to 
the surface again as she came abreast of the Victoria 
and Alberty while, to complete the picture, and to 
foreshadow the enormous development of aerial 
power in the years immediately to follow, each accom- 
panying aeroplane and seaplane dipped in the air by 
way of salute. 

So the Fleet passed out, great though it was, still 
only a portion of the total British sea forces, and 
producing scarcely a ripple upon the national atten- 
tion, fixed on what seemed to it then a thousand more 
important matters. Had it been known that, as it 
then was, no eye would ever behold it again; that, 
in less than three weeks, stripped at its war stations, 
the fate of the world would visibly depend upon it — 
with what other eyes would the whole Empire have 
watched Spithead on that July morning! But, for 
the vast mass of Englishmen the world over, the 
incident passed without notice. Politically, the affairs 
of Ireland, the readjustment of the House of Lords, 
and the aspirations of Labour apparently held the 
field. For the anxious few, to whom the position in 
Europe seemed already ominously uneasy, it may 
have been otherwise. But none of them had publicly 
spoken; and it is now clear, with so sinister a rapidity 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 7 

did the events leading to war follow each other, that 
the test mobilization designed, not without criticism, 
to supercede the usual manoeuvres, was coincident 
with, rather than the outcome of, the hardening of 
the general diplomatic position. 

That was on July 20, 1914, and, upon the politi- 
cal events that ensued, it would be quite impossible, 
in the present volume, to dwell for more than a mo- 
ment or two. Very briefly, they succeeded one 
another as follows. On July 23d, the Austrian 
memorandum to Serbia, relative to the murder of the 
Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, by a 
Serbian anarchist at Serajevo on June 28th, was 
formally submitted. So drastic were the terms of this 
that its warlike significance was immediately appar- 
ent to the whole of Europe; and a reply from Serbia 
was demanded in forty-eight hours. This was given 
within the specified time, all the Austrian demands 
being acceded to, with two exceptions. These were 
that Austrian representatives should collaborate with 
Serbia in the suppression of an ti- Austrian agitation and 
also in the judicial proceedings that were demanded 
against all connected with the Serajevo murder. 

The acceptance of these demands would, of course, 
have been tantamount to an admission by Serbia 
that she had ceased to be an independent nation. 
Nevertheless she was ready to refer them to the 
Hague Tribunal. The Austrian ambassador, how- 
ever, acting on instructions from his Government, 
refused to accept anything but an unqualified assent, 
and left Belgrade on June 25th. 

It was clear that, as regarded Serbia at any rate, 



8 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Austria had determined upon war; but Sir Edward, 
afterward Viscount, Grey, then in charge of the Brit- 
ish Foreign Office, took instant and most strenuous 
steps to prevent this. He first proposed a conference 
in London, in which Germany, France, and Italy 
should participate, to mediate in the issues between 
the two countries. To this Germany disagreed, stat- 
ing that discussions were taking place between Aus- 
tria and Russia, from which she had hopes of a suc- 
cessful issue. So fraught, however, was the whole 
European atmosphere with dark and immeasurable 
possibilities, that, in common with every other great 
Power, Great Britain had been obliged to take certain 
precautions; and, in the most immediately important 
of these, the navy was, of course, concerned. 

Owing to the illness of his wife, Mr. Winston 
Churchill had left London for Cromer on the evening 
of July 24th — Prince Louis of Battenburg, afterward 
the Marquis of Mihord Haven, being, as First Sea 
Lord, left in charge. About lunch time on Sunday, 
July 26th, the day after the Austrian Ambassador 
had left Belgrade, Mr. Churchill telephoned Prince 
Louis, and, in view of this serious development, told 
him to take what steps seemed to him advisable, at 
the same time informing him that he was returning to 
town that evening instead of on Monday, as he had 
originally designed. 

In ordinary circumstances, the demobilization, fol- 
lowing upon the naval exercises, was to have begun on 
this Monday morning. But Prince Louis, having 
made himself acquainted with all the telegrams re- 
ceived at the Foreign Office, had an order telegraphed 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 9 

to Admiral Sir George Callaghan, then Commander- 
in-Chief of the Home Fleets at Portland — the newest 
and most powerful units of which were afterward to 
form the nucleus of what was to become known as the 
Grand Fleet — to the effect that no ship was to leave 
anchorage until further orders, and that all vessels of 
the Second Fleet were to remain at their home ports 
near their balance crews. Throughout Monday, July 
27th, by telegrams all over Europe to our various 
representatives, by interviews at home with foreign 
ambassadors in London, the British Foreign Office, 
under Sir Edward Grey, ceaselessly worked to avoid 
the impending collision, or, if that might not be 
averted, at least to limit its extent. 

On Tuesday, July 28th, Austria declared war on 
Serbia, and, by the next day, was bombarding the 
Serbian capital. On this day, both Russia and Bel- 
gium were mobilizing their armies, Belgium as a pre- 
cautionary measure of self-defense, and Russia, as 
regarded her southern armies only, on account of 
Austria's invasion of Serbia. It was early on Wed- 
nesday morning, July 29th, that the German Chan- 
cellor, then Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, suggested 
to Sir Edward Goschen, our ambassador at Berlin, 
that if Britain remained neutral in the event of France 
joining Russia against an Austro-German combina- 
tion, Germany would guarantee to make no territorial 
demands of France; would respect the neutrality of 
Holland; but might be forced to enter Belgium, 
whose integrity she would preserve, however, after 
the war. In respect of the French colonies, she would 
make no promises. 



10 THE HEROIC RECORD 

This meant the tearing up, of course, of the treaty, 
in which we as well as Germany had guaranteed 
Belgium's inviolability, and was an unmistakable 
index of the line of action that Germany was prepared 
to take, should it suit her purpose; and it was on this 
morning, unreported by the papers, and entirely 
unknown to the nation, that the First Fleet, under 
Sir George Callaghan, sailed out of Portland to its 
war-stations. 

Peace was still possible, however, or so Sir Edward 
Grey hoped; and, while immediately rejecting, as he 
was in honour bound to do, Germany's proposal with 
regard to Belgium, he made the new suggestion of a 
European Council — a Council to which these prob- 
lems, even at the eleventh hour, might be submitted 
to avert disaster. This plan was also destined to be 
fruitless. On July 31st, Germany sent a note to 
Russia demanding the instant dispersal of her armies, 
and requesting a favourable answer by eleven o'clock 
on Saturday, August 1st; and it was on the same day 
that Sir Edward Grey asked both Germany and 
France if they would guarantee the integrity of Bel- 
gium, always provided that this was not infringed 
by any other Power. To this France assented at 
once, but Germany made no reply. 

Such was the position on Friday, and, on the Satur- 
day afternoon, August 1st, Germany declared war on 
Russia, following this up, early on Sunday morning, 
with the invasion of Luxembourg by part of her ad- 
vanced armies. This was the day on which the re- 
mainder of our naval reservists, including all naval 
and marine pensioners up to the age of fifty-five. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 11 

were called to the colours — ^the plans for their mobili- 
zation, reception, and embarkment, in any such event 
as had now arisen, having been carefully prepared and 
coordinated with the preliminary steps required of 
all other Government Departments, and included in 
the War Book, compiled by the Committee of Im- 
perial Defense, under the presidency of Mr. Asquith, 
then Prime Minister. 

Simultaneously, or rather on the previous Saturday 
afternoon, an order to mobilize had been received at 
Dartmouth — the Royal Naval College in which, and 
in the Britannia before it, so many generations of 
oflScers had received their first training. Already, on 
the preceding Tuesday, the cadets had been sum- 
moned to the Quarter Deck, as the big recreation hall 
was called, and told by the Captain that, in the event 
of war, they would certainly be mobilized — the six 
*' terms" into which the cadets were divided, being 
ordered to report in three groups at Chatham, Ports- 
mouth, and Devonport, in this order of departure. 

Of the thrill produced by this, anybody who has 
been a schoolboy of fifteen will have little difficulty 
in forming an idea; and it may be doubted if any 
of the boys who heard it — many of them, alas, never 
to see another birthday — will ever again live through 
such a moment as when the summons actually came 
on the following Saturday afternoon. It came with 
added force, because, since Tuesday, the excitement 
had naturally died down, while most of the boys, in 
common with their fathers, and indeed the majority 
of English men and women, had found it difficult to 
believe that so huge a convulsion would not in some 



12 THE HEROIC RECORD 

manner be prevented. By what now seems, too, in 
retrospect, to have been almost the acme of ironical 
circumstance, they were due to start their holidays 
on August 4th, and to these their minds had already 
begun to turn again. 

But the summons came, and with it in each boy, 
as hardly less in the college itself, the death of an era 
so instantaneous that it was only a little later that it 
could be realized. A moment before, and the normal 
Saturday afternoon life had been swinging along, as 
for so many years past — on the cricket field, in the 
swimming baths, in the Devonshire countryside sur- 
rounding the college; and the moment after, the 
cricket field was empty, with the stumps still standing 
there undrawn, and the lanes and river banks were 
being everywhere searched for such boys as were not 
in college. Long before nightfall half the cadets — 
scarcely more than children — had left the place for- 
ever; and it was not until then that the sense of 
what lay before them fell upon the officers and mas- 
ters left behind. For a little while this was almost 
intolerable, and the more so because it would have 
seemed indecent to them to put it into words. Char- 
acteristically enough, perhaps — most of them being 
products of the same kind of system that had pro- 
duced the boys — it was finally decided, dusk thougli 
it was, and tired as they were, to turn out the beagles. 

By the evening of August 3d, therefore, August 
Bank Holiday, and a day of serene and cloudless 
beauty, the Admiralty was able to announce that the 
entire navy had been placed upon a war footing, the 
mobilization having been completed in all respects by 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 13 

4 o'clock in the morning. This was the position when, 
in a House of Commons charged with emotions tenser 
than any man remembered, Sir Edward Grey rose to 
explain the situation and the attitude of the Govern- 
ment, for which he desired the country's mandate. 
Beginning by assuring the House that the Govern- 
ment and himself had worked "with all the earnest- 
ness in our power to preserve peace," he went on to 
deal with the British obligations toward her friends 
in the Entente — making it clear that the country was 
not bound, by any secret treaty, to provide armed 
assistance. That was but a small matter, however, 
and what had to be determined was our moral posi- 
tion in the circumstances that had arisen. 

Dealing first with naval matters, Sir Edward Grey 
pointed out that, the French Fleet being in the 
Mediterranean, her northern and western coasts — a 
tribute to her confidence in ourselves — were left 
absolutely unprotected; while, in the Mediterranean, 
should the French Fleet have to be withdrawn for 
vital purposes elsewhere, we ourselves had not then a 
fleet strong enough to meet all possible hostile com- 
binations. Under those conditions, and with a Ger- 
man declaration of war upon her probably the ques- 
tion of a few hours, it had obviously been our bounden 
duty to make our position clear toward France; and 
this had been done on the previous afternoon. Sub- 
ject to the support of Parliament, the British Govern- 
ment had promised that, if the German Fleet should 
come into the Channel, or through the North Sea, 
to undertake hostile operations against the French 
coast or shipping, the British Fleet would give to the 



14 THE HEROIC RECORD 

French all the protection in its power. Just before 
coming to the House, Sir Edward Grey added, he had 
learned that, if we would pledge ourselves to neutral- 
ity, Germany would be prepared to agree that its fleet 
should not attack the northern coast of France. But 
that, as he said, was a far too narrow engagement. 

Even more vital, however, was the question of 
Belgium's integrity, not only to France and ourselves, 
but to the whole basis upon which the relations of all 
civilized Powers had come to rest. In connection 
with this. Sir Edward Grey told the House that a per- 
sonal telegram had just been received by the King, in 
which the King of Belgium had made a supreme ap- 
peal for the diplomatic intervention of Great Britain. 
Should Belgium be compelled. Sir Edward Grey 
pointed out, to compromise her neutrality by allowing 
the passage of foreign troops, whatever might ulti- 
mately happen to her, her independence would have 
gone. To stand by and see that would, in his 
opinion — and this was overwhelmingly endorsed both 
by the House and the country — be "to sacrifice our 
respect and good sense and reputation before the 
world." 

On the'same day, Germany declared war on France* 
and, on Tuesday, August 4th, Great Britain asked for 
a definite assurance from Germany that Belgium's re- 
fusal to allow the passage of troops through her terri- 
tory should be respected. An answer was desired be- 
fore midnight, but the only German reply was to 
present our ambassador with his passports, and, before 
the day ended. Great Britain was at war not only for 
her life but for the life of civilization. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 15 

And now, as regarded the navy, there occurred a 
little incident, not without an element in it of the 
deepest pathos, but demonstrating, at the outset, that 
one at least of our great naval traditions shone as 
brightly as ever. For eight years — longer than any 
other living admiral — Sir George Callaghan had been 
afloat in various responsible commands; and, in 1911, 
he had become Commander-in-Chief of the Home 
Fleet. Its efficiency as an instrument was due in no 
small measure to his personal thoroughness and en- 
thusiasm; and the mingled feelings of pride, con- 
fidence, and anxiety, with which he had led it to its 
war stations, can readily be imagined. At last he was 
to see in action, under his very eyes, that splendid 
weapon, for which he had so long been responsible. 
But it was not to be. Just as in most recent naval 
campaigns conducted by other countries, it had been 
considered advisable for the leader in war to have 
come fresh from staff work at headquarters, so it had 
been felt in England that the admiral commanding 
the Fleet in action must be not only a sea-officer of 
high standing, but one with a more intimate knowl- 
edge of the general strategical position than it had 
been possible for an officer so long afloat to acquire. 
It was for such reasons that Admiral Sampson had 
been placed in charge of the American Fleet in the 
Spanish-American War, and Admiral Togo by the 
Japanese Government in the Japanese War with 
Russia, and, for similar considerations, it had been 
decided to appoint Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, still 
young as admirals went, to the command of the 
Grand Fleet. 



16 THE HEROIC RECORD 

As a former Director of Ordnance and Torpedoes, 
and thus familiar with every branch of munition- 
ment; as a former Third Sea Lord in control of ship- 
building and equipment; and, as Second Sea Lord, 
responsible not only for personnel but familiar, as 
Deputy for the First Sea Lord, with all questions of 
strategy, Admiral Jellicoe, apart from his personal 
qualities, had had unique opportunities of studying 
the whole naval problem from every possible stand- 
point. He had proved himself in addition, during 
naval manoeuvres, a tactical leader of the highest 
order; and he was already due, later in the year, 
to succeed Sir George Callaghan in command of the 
Home Fleets. It was therefore decided — not without 
considerable personal reluctance on the part of Ad- 
miral Jellicoe himself — that he should at once replace 
Sir George Callaghan on board the fleet-flagship Iron 
Duke; and nothing could have been more typical of 
naval esprit de corps and the subservience of even the 
most illustrious officer to the interests of the whole 
service than that this incident took place without a 
trace of bitterness or the slightest personal jealousy. 
Even so, five years after Trafalgar, having never been 
allowed to set foot again on English soil, Collingwood 
had died in his cabin, content that in his long sea- 
exile he had served his country; and even so, having 
carried upon his shoulders perhaps the heaviest in- 
dividual responsibilities of the war, Jellicoe himself, 
at the end of 1917, walked quietly out of the Admir- 
alty to hang pictures at home. 

Bom on December 5, 1859, Sir John Jellicoe was 
in his fifty-fifth year when he stepped on board the 



OF THE BHITISH NAVY 17 

Iron DuJce as admiralissimo of the Grand Fleet. The 
son of a well-known captain in the mercantile marine, 
who lived long enough, as it is pleasant to remember, 
to witness his son's success, he was also related 
ancestrally to that Admiral Patton, who had been 
Second Sea Lord at the time of Trafalgar; while, in 
Lady Jellicoe, daughter of the late Sir Charles Cayzer, 
one of the Directors of the Clan Line of Steamships, 
he had formed, on his marriage, yet further connec- 
tions with the sea. After a few years at a private 
school at Rottingdean, he had entered the Britannia 
as a cadet in 1872, and, from the first, seems without 
effort to have made the fullest use of his opportunities. 

Passing out of the Britannia, the head of his year, 
with every possible prize that could be taken, he had 
qualified — again with three first prizes — as sub- 
lieutenant in 1878, being appointed a full lieutenant 
three years later, with three first-class certificates. 
Two years after this, he had taken part in the Egyp- 
tian campaign, obtaining the silver medal for the 
expedition, and also the Khedive's Bronze Star. 
Returning to Greenwich for a course in gunnery, he 
had obtained the £80 prize for gunnery lieutenants, 
and, soon afterward, had been appointed a Junior 
Staff Officer at the Excellent School of Gunnery at 
Portsmouth; and it was here that he had come into 
contact, and begun a lifelong friendship, with the 
greatest naval genius of modem times, then plain 
Captain Fisher, and scarcely known outside the 
service. 

It was while still a lieutenant that, in 1886, he 
had received the Board of Trade Medal for gallantry 



18 THE HEROIC RECORD 

in a forlorn attempt — during which he was himself 
shipwrecked — to save a stranded crew near Gibraltar. 
Becoming a commander in 1891, he had been ap- 
pointed to Sir George Tryon's flagship, the ill-fated 
Victoria, afterward to be sunk during manoeuvres — 
Commander Jellicoe himself, ill in his cabin at the 
moment, having the narrowest escape from drowning. 
Six years later, he had become a captain, joining Sir 
Edward Seymour's flagship, the Centurion, on the 
China Station; and it was in China that, three years 
afterward, he had seen his next active service during 
the Boxer Rebellion. In this he had been Chief Staff 
OflScer to Sir Edward Seymour, who commanded the 
Naval Brigade; and, at the Battle of Pietsang, on 
June 21, 1900, he had been very severely wounded. 
Happily he had recovered, receiving for his services 
the Companionship of the Bath, and, four years later, 
had found himself at the Admiralty as Director of 
Naval Ordnance — a position that he had held during 
the revolution produced by the appearance of the 
first British dreadnought. He had also been largely 
responsible for the immense improvement in our 
gunnery, associated with the name of Admiral Sir 
Percy Scott. In 1907 Captain Jellicoe had been 
promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral, being ap- 
pointed to a command in the Atlantic Fleet a little 
later in the same year. In 1908 he had become one 
of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and 
Controller of the Navy, and, two years afterward, he 
had reached the vice-admirals' list and had succeeded 
to the command of the Atlantic Fleet. In 1911, hav- 
ing already been made a K. C. V. O., he had been 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 19 

honoured with a K. C. B. at the coronation of King 
George V, and, in 1912, after a short spell of service 
in command of the Second Battle Squadron of the 
Home Fleet, he had become Second Sea Lord, the 
position he was holding on the outbreak of war. 

Such were the qualifications of the man in whose 
hands, on that fateful fourth of August, rested more 
heavily than in those of any other the destiny of our 
empire and of mankind. Had they proved inade- 
quate, it is no exaggeration to say that the sun of 
freedom would have set for both. That they were 
not so is common knowledge, and the fullest justifi- 
cation of those who had believed in them — chief 
among whom was that masterful administrator, who 
had changed the whole aspect of our naval strategy. 

Rugged of face, with hosts of detractors, and, at 
this time, well over seventy years of age; a prey to 
moods, with some defects of his qualities, and a mind 
too often intolerant of the weaknesses of others, it 
was to Lord Fisher of Kilverstone, more than to any 
single living man, that the navy of August 4th owed 
its strength. Lacking the hereditary sea-influences 
so strong in Sir John Jellicoe, and with none of the 
powerful encouragement that he himself had be- 
stowed upon the younger admiral. Lord Fisher had 
risen to power by sheer mental ability united with an 
extraordinary force of character; although full credit 
must be given to Mr. Balfour who, as Prime Minister 
in 1902, gave Sir John Fisher, as he then was, the 
fullest scope for his genius. 

These had included changes so radical and far- 
reachhig, in almost every branch of naval adminis- 



20 THE HEROIC RECORD 

tration, that it would be impossible here to recapitu- 
late them; and they are already familiar to most 
people. Briefly, they had amounted, first, to a dras- 
tic redistribution of our whole naval forces, including 
the partial absorption of the Mediterranean Fleet, 
hitherto our strongest command, into an enormously 
powerful force in the home seas always ready for war; 
the disestablishment of overseas squadrons of no 
strategical importance; the remorseless scrapping of 
many old ships that were doing little else than eating 
up money; and the reduction of distant dockyards 
that had long ceased to have any potential significance. 
Hand in hand with all this, a revision of the entire 
system of naval education had been undertaken; the 
Royal Fleet Reserve had been strengthened by the 
inclusion of a number of seamen who had had five or 
more years' training; and from these were to be 
drawn the balance crews that, in time of war, were 
to bring the vessels of the Second Fleet up to their 
full complement. 

It had further become clear, both from the lessons 
learned in the naval actions between Russia and 
Japan, and in the strong bid for an overpowering 
fleet then being made by Germany, that new develop- 
ments in the matter of design were a problem of the 
most serious urgency. It had accordingly been de- 
cided to replace the very large number of differing 
vessels, of which the navy then consisted, by a few 
definite classes, each designed to fulfil in war some 
clearly thought-out tactical purpose; and, at the 
same time, in absolute secrecy, the first of the great 
British dreadnoughts had been laid down. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 21 

This had not only compelled an immediate response 
in every navy throughout the world, but had once 
more secured for us the margin of vital security that 
had seriously been encroached upon before these 
reforms were initiated. That in spite of changes of 
Government and the natural reluctance of the nation, 
in view of social necessities, to increase its naval 
expenditure. Lord Fisher had succeeded in carrying 
through his programme, was the best evidence of his 
strength; and men of all parties had become increas- 
ingly united in endorsing the general wisdom of his 
attitude. 

So swift, even since then, however, had been the 
advance in naval construction that, when Sir John 
Jellicoe stepped on board the Iron Duke, the first of 
the dreadnoughts was almost obsolete. Itself since 
outstripped by the ships of the Queen Elizabeth class, 
when war was declared on August 4th, the Iron Duke, 
as regarded battleships, was perhaps the flower of 
the British Navy. In full commission displacing 
27,000 tons, and costing more than £2,000,000 to 
build, she had attained on trial, in spite of her enor- 
mous armament, a speed of no less than 22 knots. 
Each of her large guns, of which she carried ten, so 
arranged as to be able to fire on each broadside, was 
capable of hurling a shell from twenty to twenty-five 
miles, during which it would rise far higher than Mont 
Blanc; and, besides these, she had a dozen 6-Lnch 
guns with which to repel possible destroyer attacks. 
Her armour at the water-line was twelve inches thick; 
she was fitted with four submerged torpedo-tubes, 
and carried on board three thousand tons of fuel 



22 THE HEROIC RECORD 

and a complement of over a thousand officers and 
men. 

No less powerful, though not so heavily armoured, 
and capable of a speed when pressed, of about thirty 
knots an hour, was the Lion, the flagship of the battle- 
cruisers, of whom Sir David Beatty was in command. 
She, too, carried ten 13.5-inch guns, with sixteen 
smaller quick-firing guns, and two submerged torpedo- 
tubes. Typical of yet another class was the since 
famous Arethusa flying the pennant of Commodore 
Reginald Tyrwhitt, as he then was — a light armoured 
cruiser, or, in Mr. Churchill's phrase, "a destroyer of 
destroyers," displacing a little less than 4,000 tons, 
but capable of a speed, when pressed, approaching 
forty knots. Lastly should be mentioned the L class, 
then the latest of our destroyers, consuming oil fuel 
only — ^those antennae of the Fleet, as fast as an express 
train, and the very incarnation of vigilance and 
daring. 

Such then was the navy in which on August 3d, 
speaking in that breathless House of Commons, Sir 
Edward Grey had said that those responsible for 
it had the completest confidence. To it had been 
added, on the outbreak of war, a couple of battleships 
that had just been completed for Turkey and two 
destroyer-leaders, built for Chile, that had been pur- 
chased from her by arrangement. As the child of the 
cockle-ships that Alfred had beaten the Danes with, 
that had won the Battle of Sluys for Edward HI; as 
the offspring of the fleets of Drake or even of Nelson, 
its least unit would have defied belief. But it was of 
the same^family, legitimately descended, and with the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 23 

old names scattered amongst its children. Bellero- 
'phon, St. George, TSmSraire, its history was implicit in 
its roll call; while the dead animals stood re-invoked 
upon the prows that bore their legends. Collingwood, 
Benbow, St. Vincent; Albemarle, Cochrane, Hawke 
— they were at war for England if only as words. 
But did they live again in the men that hailed them.f* 
Well, the nation believed so, and, in that dark hour, 
this was the sheet-anchor of its hope. In the words 
of the King to Sir John Jellicoe, it sent them the full 
assurance of its confidence that they would "prove 
once again the true shield of Britain and of her 
Empire in the hour of trial." 



CHAPTER II 

THE BATTLE OF THE BIGHT 

IN HIS speech of August 3d in the House of 
Commons, Sir Edward Grey told his listeners 
that we had incurred no obligations to help 
France either by land or sea. In view not less, how- 
ever, of the increasing difficulties of our diplomatic 
relations with Germany than of the spontaneous 
friendship that had been growing between ourselves 
and our French neighbours, the question of coopera- 
tion with the latter, in certain eventualities, had in- 
evitably arisen and been discussed. It had also been 
pointed out that unless some conversations were to 
take place between the naval and military experts of 
both countries — unless some definite lines were laid 
down as to the methods by which each country was to 
help the other — such cooperation, even if desired, 
would almost certainly be fruitless. At the same 
time, in a letter written on November 22, 1912, to 
the French ambassador. Sir Edward Grey had made 
it clear that these discussions between their respec- 
tive experts did not commit either Government to a 
specified course of action "in a contingency which has 
not yet arisen and may never arise." 

When the contingency arose, however, the plans 
were there; and the mobilization and transport to 

24 



THE BRITISH NAVY 25 

France of our Expeditionary Force will remain on 
record as one of the most efficient military operations 
ever undertaken by any country. Second only to the 
rapidity and completeness with which the navy took 
command of the sea, were the speed and secrecy with 
which those first divisions were conveyed across the 
Channel. That in mere numbers they seem in retro- 
spect to have been almost ridiculously inad^juate is 
merely a measure of the colossal proportions that the 
war on land afterward assumed. Small as that army 
was, however, it was the largest force that we had 
ever sent oversea as a single undertaking; and it 
must be borne in mind that, in all probability, it was 
the most highly trained then in existence, and that 
its presence in France had both moral and material 
effects of almost incalculable importance. 

Nobody who lived, or was staying, near any of our 
great southern railway lines during those early days 
of August will ever forget the emotions roused by 
that endless series of troop trains, passing with such 
precision day and night; and of the feelings produced 
in France by this visible pledge of our friendship 
there was instant and abundant evidence. Between 
August 9th and August 23d five Divisions of Infan- 
try and two Cavalry Divisions were safely landed in 
France; and when it is remembered what a single 
division consists of some idea may be obtained of 
what that accomplishment meant. 

Apart from the Headquarters' Staff with a per- 
sonnel of 82, requiring 54 horses, 2 wagons, and 5 
motor-cars, it embraced three Infantry Brigades, 
Headquarters' divisional artillery, three brigades of 



26 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Field Artillery, one Howitzer Brigade, one heavy 
battery, a divisional ammunition column, the Head- 
quarters' division of engineers, two Field companies, 
one Signal company, one Cavalry squadron, one 
Divisional train, and three Field ambulances — com- 
prising a total 'personnel of over 18,000 men, 5,500 
horses, 870 wagons, 9 motor-cars, and 280 cycles, 
the number of guns, including machine guns, amount- 
ing to 100; and with a base establishment for each 
division of 1,750 men and 16 horses. 

Such was the task performed by the transport 
oflBcers, every kind of vessel being assembled for the 
purpose, from the cross-channel packet boat accom- 
modating not more than three hundred at a time to 
the giant Atlantic liner carrying as many thousands. 
Chiefly from Southampton, but also from Dover, 
Folkestone, Newhaven, Avonmouth, and many other 
ports, that constant stream of men, horses, pro- 
visions, and equipment poured ceaselessly for nearly a 
fortnight, screened by destroyer-escorts, and with 
aeroplanes and seaplanes keeping watch over them 
from the sky. Without a single casualty as the result 
of enemy action, they were mustered and marched 
into line of the French left flank; and that this great 
achievement should have been possible within so 
short a period from the declaration of war is perhaps 
the completest tribute that could be paid to the con- 
summate skill of our naval dispositions. 

Scarcely realized by those splendid battalions, 
whistling "Tipperary " on the way to Mons, and even 
now, perhaps, hardly appreciated by the bulk of their 
countrymen at home, it was the navy and the navy 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 27 

alone that made that glorious epic possible. With 
their eyes on Europe and the impending clash of the 
armies; hearing in imagination, under the unsus- 
pected force of the heavy German artillery, the crump- 
ling up of those iron-clad cupolas of the Brialmont 
forts at Liege — ^few would have thought twice, per- 
haps, even if they had known what they were doing, 
of those tiny submarines E6 and ES creeping, the first 
of their kind, into the Bight of Heligoland. Yet but 
for them and their gallant crews and officers, Lieu- 
tenant-Commanders Talbot and Goodhart; but for 
the presiding destroyers. Lurcher and Firedrahe and 
the submarines of the Eighth Flotilla — the passage 
of the Expeditionary Force might well have been 
impossible and the first battle of the Marne fought 
with another issue. 

Within three hours of the first outbreak of the war, 
EQ and ES stole out on their perilous errands; and 
it was upon the information brought back by them 
from thc^e mined and fortified waters that the later 
dispositions were made. From August 7th onward, 
until the Expeditionary Force had been safely 
landed, the submarines kept their watch. In the 
lee of islands, at the mouths of channels, in hourly 
danger of detection and death, day and night, with- 
out relief, those cautious periscopes maintained their 
vigil. Farther to the south, guarding the approaches 
to the Channel, between the North Goodwins and 
the Ruytingen, were the two destroyers Lurcher and 
FiredraJce, with the main covering submarine flotilla; 
while to the northeast of these, the- Amethyst and 
F earless y each ^with a flotilla of destroyers, took 



28 THE HEROIC RECORD 

turns about on patrol duty, during the passage of 
the army. 

Nor must it be forgotten, so swift was the subse- 
quent progress both in the range and effectiveness of 
submarine activity, that this was, at that time, a 
branch of the service scarcely tried and of unknown 
possibihties. The submarines used were of a type 
soon so outclassed as to become almost obsolete, the 
easiest of prey to net and torpedo, and working 
at a distance from their bases then unprecedented. 
Nevertheless, after the Expeditionary Force had 
been safely transported to France, they were, in the 
words of Commodore, afterward Vice-Admiral, Roger 
Keyes, "incessantly employed on the enemy's coast 
in the Heligoland Bight and elsev/here, and have 
obtained much valuable information regarding the 
composition and movement of his patrols. They 
have occupied his waters and reconnoitred his an- 
chorages, and, while so engaged, have been subjected 
to skilful and well-executed anti-submarine tactics; 
hunted for hours at a time by torpedo craft, and at- 
tacked by gunfire and torpedoes." 

Thai was written on October 17, 1914, when the 
action, now about to be described, had already made 
the Bight of Hehgoland a familiar term to most peo- 
ple, but without conveying, perhaps, to more than a 
very few aJl that it meant from a strategical stand- 
point. Between three and four hundred miles from 
the nearest of our naval bases, and from some of the 
chief of them more than six hundred miles distant, 
it was in this small area that there was concentrated 
practically the whole of Germany's naval forces, the 



OF THE BillTISII NAVY ^9 

iKiel Canal connecting it with the Baltic, rendering 
these available in either sea. 

Nor would it be easy to imagine, from the point of 
view of defense, either a bay of littoral with greater 
natural advantages. Bounded on the east by the low- 
lying shores of Schleswig-Holstein, with their fringe 
of protecting islands, and on the south by the deeply 
indented coast-line between the Dutch frontier and 
the mouth of the Kiel Canal, each of the four great 
estuaries, from west to east, of the Ems, the Jade, 
the Weser, and the Elbe, had been subdivided by sand- 
banks into a mesh work of channels than which noth- 
ing could have been easier to make impregnable. 
These were further guarded by the continuation of 
the scimitar curve of the Frisian Islands, beginning 
opposite Helder in Holland with the Dutch island of 
Texel, becoming German m the island of Borkum 
just beyond the Memmert Sands, opposite the mouth 
of the Ems, and continued, as a natural screen, in the 
successive islands of Juist, Nordeney, Baltrum, 
Langeoog, Spiekeroog, and Wangeroog as far as the 
entrance of Jade Bay, covering the approach to 
Wilhelmshaven. 

Situated on the western lip of this channel, and 
connected by locks with the Ems and Jade Canal, 
this was one of the largest of Germany's naval bases 
and a town of about 35,000 inhabitants. In the next 
estuary, that of the Weser, and on the eastern coast 
of it, lay Bremerhaven, another naval base and im- 
portant dockyard; and, on the same stretch of coast, 
at the point of the tongue of land between the Weser 
and the Elbe, lay Cuxhaven, yet a third and im- 



so THE HEROIC RECORD 

mensely powerful naval port. This, with the attend- 
dant batteries of Dose, wa^ flanked at sea by the 
Roter and Kneeht sandbanks and the little island of 
Sharhorn, and was only about forty miles distant 
from Heligoland, lying in the centre of the Bight 
and commanding the hole. 

Probably, from an offensive standpoint, of less 
value, under modern conditions, than was generally 
supposed, the possession of Heligoland, as a fortified 
outpost, was, if only psychologically, one of Ger- 
many's greatest assets. Of rocky formation and 
rising, at its highest point, to about 200 feet, it was 
not only a useful observation post but a fortress of the 
utmost strength. With wide views extending to the 
mouth of the Elbe and the coast of the neighbouring 
estuaries, it also protected a roadstead capable of 
sheltering and concealing a fleet of considerable 
strength; and, in addition, it possessed a wireless 
station of the greatest strategical importance. 

From an early period, indeed, the peculiar advan- 
tages of the island had been obvious to many ob- 
servers. In the seventeenth century, it had been 
used as a convenient station by the traders in contra- 
band between France and Hamburg, and, for the 
same purposes, toward the end of the eighteenth and 
at the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, by 
British smugglers. During the Danish blockade of 
the German ports in the Schleswig-Holstein War of 
1848, its advantages had become so manifest to the 
then British Governor that he made a special report 
about it to the Colonial Office. "Possessing pilots of 
all the surrounding coasts and rivers and with its 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY SI 

roadstead sufficient for a steam fleet," it would in an 
emergency, he had pointed out, "amply repay the 
small cost of its retention in time of peace." Other 
considerations had supervened, however, and, in 
1890, after having been in British' possession for 
more than eighty years, Heligoland had been ceded 
to Germany, to become, in due course, the keystone 
of her naval defenses. 

Such then was the Bight of Heligoland, commanded 
at its centre by the rocky island itself; flanked on 
each side by the sentinel islands of the Frisian and 
Schleswig coasts; and with its tributary river-mouths 
each an intricate meshwork of shallow and treacher- 
ous sandbanks. Subject to fogs, and responding to 
its prevalent winds with short steep seas of peculiar 
violence, it had been mined and protected since the 
outbreak of war with every means that ingenuity 
could suggest. As for the island itself, from which 
all women and civilians, with the exception of five 
nurses, had been removed, new guns had been 
mounted there, houses pulled down, and trees felled 
to assist the gunners; and it is only when this is re- 
membered that some idea becomes possible of all that 
was involved in those first patrols, and in the affair 
of outposts, as one officer has described it, afterward 
to be known as the Battle of the Bight. 

This was brought about as the result of the detailed 
information afforded by our scouting submarines, who 
had obtained an accurate knowledge of the procedure 
of the enemy's day and night patrols, and had re- 
ported that they could always collect a large force of 
destroyers round them whenever they showed them- 



32 THE HEROIC RECORD 

selves in the Bight. From this it became evident 
that a force, approaching at dawn from the direction 
of Horn Reef, would have every prospect of being able 
to cut off the enemy's returning night patrols; and an 
operation was accordingly decided upon, of which the 
following were the broad outlines. On the morning 
of August 28, 1914, the day appointed for the 
action, some submarines, with a couple of destroyers 
in attendance, were to penetrate into the Bight and 
expose themselves to the enemy, and were then to 
lure them, if possible, into contact with other forces 
that would be waiting. In close proximity, there- 
fore, to the submarines it was arranged for two light 
cruisers, the Arethusa and Fearless, to rendezvous 
with two flotillas of destroyers, while, behind these, 
were to lie ambushed out at sea the Light Cruiser 
and Battle-Cruiser Squadrons. The general design, 
with full details as to the meeting-places, was com- 
municated to each of the responsible commanders, 
and, in absolute secrecy, from their various bases, the 
forces to be engaged put to sea. 

Of these the first were the submarines under Com- 
modore Roger Keyes, who accompanied them on 
board the destroyer Lurcher^ with the Firedrake in 
attendance — those stout little vessels that had al- 
ready made themselves familiar, during the passage 
of the armies, with the proposed scene of action. 
Setting out at midnight on August 26th, they escorted 
the eight submarines chosen for this hazardous duty, 
1)2, D8, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, and E9; and, while 
these were kept in the background throughout the 
next day, the Lurcher and Firedrake acted as their 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 33 

scouts. To the perils in store for them, in the way of 
detection, the fine weather and calm sea naturally 
added; but, at nightfall of August 27th, each sub- 
marine crept to its appointed station in close proxim- 
ity to the German coast. 

Meanwhile, at five in the morning of the same day, 
the Areihusa, under Commodore Tyrwhitt, had set 
out in her turn, with two flotillas of destroyers, meet- 
ing the Fearless at sea during the afternoon; and, 
farther north, at the same early hour, Vice-Admiral 
Beatty, in the iion, had departed with the First 
Battle-Cruiser and First Light Cruiser Squadrons to 
be at hand in case of necessity. By the evening of 
August 27th, therefore, all were in their places; the 
submarines were feeling their way into the heart of 
the Bight; and the excitement of all engaged, during 
those hushed hours of darkness, can be readily imag- 
ined and perhaps envied. The night passed unevent- 
fully, however, and, upon the flotillas and squadrons 
at sea, the day broke clear and sunny, but with a 
good deal of mist — in some places almost amounting 
to fog — veiling the entrance of the Bight and the 
neighbourhood of Heligoland. 

The time was now come for the first open move- 
ment to be made; and, while the Lurcher and Fire- 
drake began to search the waters, through which the 
battle-cruisers were to come, for possible hostile 
submarines, three of our own, EQ, El, and E8, de- 
signedly exposing themselves, proceeded toward 
Heligoland. Finding the sea clear, Commodore 
Keyes with the Lurcher and Firedrahe then followed 
up the three submarines; and there we may leave 



34 THE HEROIC RECORD 

them for the moment, turning our attention to the 
forces assembled in their rear mider Commodore 
Tyrwhitt. 

These consisted, as we have seen, of the Light 
Cruiser Arethusa, flying Commodore Tyrwhitt's 
broad pennant, the Light Cruiser Fearless, under 
Captain W. F. Blunt, and most of the destroyers of 
the First and Third Flotillas, and, at daybreak, they, 
too, began to push their way into the misty Bight. 
Nor had they long to wait for the enemy. Though 
the visibiUty was poor, seldom at first extending to 
more than three miles, and though the fighting in 
consequence afterward became confused, the general 
strategical plan soon proved itself to have been 
sound. Issuing apparently from berths between the 
Frisian Islands and the coast-line, a patrol of German 
destroyers, setting out toward Heligoland, suddenly 
discovered our forces on the east, or Bight, side of 
them. Previous to this, at about ten minutes to 
seven, a solitary German destroyer had already been 
sighted and chased, but now, for forty minutes, from 
twenty minutes past seven, a general action ensued — 
the Arethusa and Third Flotilla engaging the German 
destroyers, and steering northwest to cut them off 
from Heligoland. 

So far the presence of the Arethusa, whose arma- 
ment has already been described, had given us the 
advantage in this particular attack; but, just before 
eight o'clock, two German cruisers loomed out of the 
mist, one with four funnels and one with two. 
Whether these had come from Heligoland or had fol- 
lowed up the destroyer-patrol was not apparent, but 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 35 

they immediately joined action, and, for a quarter of 
an hour, the Httle Arethusa found herself being bom- 
barded by both of them as well as by various destroy- 
ers. 

Firing with every gun, the Arethusa, then only 
forty-eight hours out of the builders' hands, was 
already in as tight a corner as she could have asked 
for and beginning to suffer pretty heavily. 

Twice she was hit below the water-line, but saved 
by the skill and promptitude of her engineers; 
shrapnel shells were bursting over her deck, and men 
were already dropping as the result of them; Lieu- 
tenant Westmacott was killed at Commodore Tyr- 
whitt's side; the foremost port gun was shot out 
of action, the gunlayer being blown out of his seat; 
gun after gun was wrecked and the torpedo tubes 
disabled, till only one 6-inch gun remained effective; 
and a bursting shell, exploding some ammunition, 
started a furious fire on the Arethusa' s deck. 

Fortunately, at a quarter past eight. Captain Blunt 
in the Fearless — of which a destroyer officer afterward 
wrote that "to see the old Fearless charging round 
the field of fight, seeking fresh foes, was most in- 
spiriting" — and appeared on the scene, and attracted 
to herself the guns of the four-funnelled German 
cruiser. Thus relieved a little, for ten minutes 
longer, the Arethusa fought the other on a converging 
course, till a splendidly directed shot wrecked the 
German's forebridge, and she broke off toward Heli- 
goland, which was just in sight. 

Heavily as the Arethusa had suffered, the little 
destroyer Laurel, who, with one of her consorts, had 



S6 THE HEROIC RECORD 

first sighted the oncoming cruisers, had been punished, 
as was only to be expected, with even greater severity. 
For some httle time engaging single-handed a German 
light cruiser and two destroyers, on every calculation 
of the chances of war, she should have been sunk a 
dozen times over. Struck first in the boiler-room, 
the after funnel was blown n, and the main steam- 
pipe damaged, four men being killed, but the re- 
mainder sticking to their posts with the utmost 
coolness and heroism. Next she was struck forward, 
three more men bemg killed and a gun being put out 
of action; and a few moments later her captain. Com- 
mander F. Rose, was wounded in the leg, but con- 
tinued to direct the action. Soon afterward he was 
again hit, dropping on the bridge with the other leg 
wounded, but remained where he was, after a period 
of unconsciousness, until six o'clock in the evening. 

Meanwhile the Laurel herself, while responding as 
best she could to the superior gunfire of the cruiser, 
was vigorously attacking the two destroyers, one of 
whom she succeeded in sinking and, when Com- 
mander Rose was no longer able to take charge, his 
"Number One," Lieutenant C. R. Peploe, continued 
the action, bringing his destroyer out, in the words 
of Commodore Tyrwhitt, '*in an able and gallant 
manner under most trying conditions." Few on 
board, indeed, would have given much for her chances 
of ever coming out at all; and, when a final shell 
struck her near the centre gun, causing a violent 
explosion and setting her on fire, the likelihood of the 
Laurel making port must have seemed remote to the 
last degree. Thanks in a great measure, however, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 37 

to the gallantry and promptitude of Alfred Britton, 
Stoker Petty Officer, who put out the fire, in spite of 
the close neighbourhood of several lyddite shells, no 
further damage resulted; while the mass of fumes, in 
which the disabled Laurel now lay heavily wreathed, 
served in some degree as a screen against further 
attack from the cruiser. 

It was now nearly nine o'clock; fighting had died 
down; and, when Commodore Tyrwhitt called his 
flotillas together, it was found that the First Flotilla 
had also been in action and sunk F187, the German 
commodore's destroyer. Unfortunately two boats' 
crews from the destroyers Goshawk and Defender, 
lowered to pick up survivors from the sunk destroyer, 
had had to be left behind owing to an attack by a 
German cruiser during this work of mercy — a self- 
revealing act on the part of the second navy in the 
world. Apart from this, though many of our vessels, 
especially the Laurel and Arethusa, had been heavily 
battered, all the flotillas were intact; while, imknown 
to Commodore Tyrwhitt and his command, even the 
abandoned boats' crews were being rescued. For, 
peeping through her periscope. Submarine £4 had 
witnessed the whole occurrence — ^the sinking of F187, 
the subsequent work of rescue, and the approach of 
the hostile cruiser. Under her resourceful captain, 
Commander E. W. Leir, she had at once proceeded 
to attack the enemy; and, though she had not 
managed to torpedo her, she had driven her from the 
scene of action, returning, at the greatest risk, to the 
two boats. Coming to the surface, she had taken on 
board the whole of the abandoned British crews, as 



38 THE HEROIC RECORD 

well as a German oflBcer and two men. Being unable 
to embark the rest — eighteen wounded Germans — she 
had left them with a German officer and six un- 
wounded men, provided them with water, biscuits, 
and a compass, and allowed them to navigate their 
way back to Heligoland. 

While this unique action was in progress, and while 
the Arethusa was busy repairing her guns and re- 
plenishing her ammunition, let us return again to the 
Lurcher and Firedrake^ whom we had last seen head- 
ing for Heligoland in the wake of the decoy sub- 
marines. These also had been successful in getting 
into touch with the enemy forces, and, at ten o'clock, 
the Arethusa, with mo^t of her guns now in working 
o-rder again, received a message from them that they 
were being chased by light cruisers, and at once pro- 
ceeded to their assistance. , 

Having joined up with them, and being now close 
to Heligoland, Commodore Tyrwhitt thought it wiser 
to retreat a little to the westward, but, a few minutes 
later, sighted a four-funnelled German cruiser, which 
opened a very heavy fire upon the British force about 
eleven o'clock. The position being somewhat critical. 
Commodore Tyrwhitt ordered the Fearless to attack 
and the First Flotilla to launch torpedoes; but, 
though they did so with immense spirit, the cruiser 
evaded the onslaught and vanished in the mist. Ten 
minutes later she appeared again from another 
direction, to be attacked both by the Arethusa and the 
Fearless, the former especially escaping destruction 
from her only by the slenderest of margins. Salvo 
after salvo of shells plunged into the water, some of 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 39 

them barely thirty feet short of the Arethusa, while 
two torpedoes were also launched at her, but for- 
tunately also fell short, leaving her unharmed. 

Meanwhile both Commodore Tyrwhitt and Com- 
modore Keyes had been communicating by wireless 
with Admiral Beatty, who, just after eleven, "having 
evaded three submarines, ordered the Light Cruiser 
Squadron to the support of the light forces. While 
this was hurrying to their assistance, however, the 
Arethusa's 6-inch guns had proved too accurate for 
the German cruiser, who had broken .off action, dis- 
appearing into the mist again in the direction of the 
Island. How badly she was damaged could only be 
guessed, but, four minutes later, yet another cruiser 
was sighted, the three-funnelled Mainz, which was 
immediately attacked both by the Arethusa and the 
Fearless. The blood of everybody was up now as 
never before, and, for twenty-five minutes, the assault 
was so fiercely pressed that, at the end of that time, 
the MainZy in spite of her powerful resistance, was 
seen to be on fire and sinking by the head. Her en- 
gines had stopped, and it was just at this moment that 
the Light Cruiser Squadron appeared on the scene, 
reducing her, in a very few minutes, to a condition 
that, as Commodore Tyrwhitt put it, must have been 
indescribable. 

How bad it was let a single quotation from a cruiser 
officer's diary suffice to indicate. Watching the deck 
of the Mainz through his powerful glasses, he was at 
first completely puzzled by two things — the absence 
of corpses and the enormous profusion of deck- 
sponges soaked in blood. It was not for some time 



40 THE HEROIC RECORD 

that he began to realize that the one accounted for the 
other. "Enough said," he wrote, "a six-inch pro- 
jectile does not kill a man nor even dismember him; 
it simply scatters him." 

It was now a quarter past twelve, and, by this time. 
Admiral Beatty was himself on the spot. From the 
reports received by him from the various squadron 
and flotilla commanders, and the obvious presence 
now of many enemy ships, he had come to the con- 
clusion that, in an action where speed was essential — 
the main German bases being so close at hand— the 
lighter forces might not be able to deal with the sit- 
uation sufficiently rapidly. Bearing in mind the 
possibilities of a concerted submarine attack, and the 
conceivable sortie in force of a German battle squad- 
ron, he decided that his speed would probably baffle 
the first, and that the latter, if he were prompt 
enough, could not arrive in time; while, for anything 
less in the way of enemy attack, he had ample forces 
at his disposal. 

Working up his engines, therefore, to full speed, he 
overtook the light cruisers just as they were finishing 
the Mainz, and, a quarter of an hour afterward, 
sighted the Arethusa fighting a rearguard action with 
a cruiser of the Kolherg class — recognized as the Koln, 
Following the general plan, he at once steered to cut 
the latter off from Heligoland, and, seven minutes 
later, opened fire, chasing her at full speed out to sea. 
While pursuing the Koln, another German cruiser, 
apparently the Ariadne, was seen right ahead, steer- 
ing at high speed and at right angles to the Lion, who 
was herself now travelling at 28 knots. In spite of 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 41 

this, and that, before losing her in the mist, the Lion 
had only time for a couple of salvoes, she was set on 
fire, reduced to a sinking condition, and was soon 
afterward lost, as the Germans themselves admitted. 
This was just before one; mines had been reported 
eastward; it was essential that the squadrons should 
not be too far dispersed; and therefore Admiral 
Beatty, desisting from pursuit, ordered a withdrawal, 
and returned to the Koln, She was sighted at 1 :25, 
with her ensign still flying; the Lion opened fire 
upon her from two turrets; a couple of salvoes sufficed 
to sink her; and, within ten minutes, she had dis- 
appeared. By this time, the Arethusa, the Fearless, 
and the advanced destroyer flotillas had been in ac- 
tion almost continuously for more than six hours; the 
Aretkusa's speed, owing to her injuries, was slowly 
diminishing knot by knot; upon the bridge of the 
little Laurel, Commander Frank Rose, with both his 
legs crippled, still kept his po^t; three German 
cruisers and two destroyers, including the commodore 
in command, were known to have been sunk; and, 
behind the mists in the Bight, nothing was more 
likely than that overwhelming reinforcements were 
hurrying to the spot. Under these circumstances. 
Admiral Beatty decided to withdraw his forces, 
covering their retirement with his powerful battle- 
cruisers; and it was while doing so that Captain 
Reginald Hall of the Queen Mary executed one of the 
smartest manoeuvres of the day. Watching from his 
bridge, and travelling at the time something ap- 
proaching thirty knots an hour, he saw an enemy tor- 
pedo, ten knots faster, that, in a matter of moments, 



42 THE HEROIC RECORD 

would strike him amidships. The destruction of the 
Queen Mary, had the submarine achieved it, would 
have more than outbalanced all the German losses, 
but, by very sharply turning full helm, the impact was 
just avoided in time — the battle-cruiser and torpedo, 
till the latter sunk, actually travelling side by side. 

This was the last sign of hostile reaction to one 
of the most brilliant little raids in our naval history; 
and, for the closing picture, we must turn to Admiral 
Christian, who, with yet another squadron, had been 
waiting out at sea. To him and Rear-Admiral Camp- 
bell had been allotted the task of intercepting any 
vessels that might have escaped in this direction; 
and, at about half-past four, some of Admiral Camp- 
bell's cruisers met Commodore Keyes in the returning 
Lurcher. Limping along in company with him were 
the destroyers Laurel and Liberty, and on board her 
were 220 of the crew of the Mainz, Commodore Keyes 
having laid himself alongside the burning cruiser with 
the greatest chivalry and skill. 

The Laurel was by this time quite unable to proceed 
farther under her own steam, and she was accordingly 
taken in tow by the cruiser Amethyst, the Bacchante 
and Cressy relieving the Lurcher of her prisoners, and 
sailing with them to the Nore. Meanwhile, the 
Arethusa, after her fiery ordeals, was in hardly better 
case than the Laurel, and, at seven o'clock, after 
struggling along homeward at about six knots an 
hour, found herself unable to proceed farther, and 
signalled for assistance. Two and a half hours later 
• — it was then pitch dark — and with no lights, of 
course, permissible, the Hogue took her in tow, the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 43 

necessary arrangements being carried out with the 
aid of a couple of hand lanterns. 

So the day ended without the loss to ourselves of a 
single vessel of any description; and when, many 
hours afterward, the news having preceded her, the 
Arethusa returned to harbour, scarred and lopsided — 
with her eleven dead and seventeen wounded officers 
and men — it was little wonder that every ship's syren 
of all that were assembled there blew her a welcome, 
and that every seaman who could scramble on deck 
cheered and cheered her again till he was hoarse. 



CHAPTER III 

CORONEL 

The blood-red sun betrayed our spars. 

Fate doomed us ere we started, 

Out-gunned, out-manned, out-steamed, we sank, 

But not, thank God, out-hearted. 

INEVITABLY the chief interest of the naval story 
clusters about the waters of the North Sea; and 
most of its dramatic moments have had this 
ocean for their setting. But, behind the Grand Fleet 
and its thousand auxiliaries, watching all the outlets 
of the German bases, lesser squadrons and detached 
cruisers were keeping guard throughout the world. 
Similarly, though the vigour and promptitude with 
which the Expeditionary Force was rushed across the 
Channel before the end of August, have held, and 
rightly held, the first place in the popular conception 
of our armies' movements, it must be remembered 
that, during those weeks, many other thousands of 
men were elsewhere transported across the waters. 
It must be remembered that from India alone, before 
the end of August, two Divisions and a Cavalry 
Brigade sailed for Egypt en route for France; that, 
during September and October, yet another Brigade 
was sent from India to East Africa, in time to avert 
an invasion of the British Colony there that might 

44 



THE BRITISH NAVY 45 

have had most serious results; that, during October 
and November, twenty batteries of Horse, Field, and 
Heavy artillery, and thirty-two battalions of regular 
infantry were relieved by the transport from England 
to the East of an equivalent force of Territorials; 
and that a force of native infantry was despatched to 
assist Japan in the successful occupation of Kiao 
Chao. 

That represented but a small proportion of the 
continual military movement that was going on from 
end to end of our scattered empire; and it was only 
one aspect of the tremendous problem that faced our 
navy in the outer seas. What this amounted to can 
best be comprehended, perhaps, by a brief considera- 
tion of what was actually accomplished. After the 
first week of August, the mercantile marine activities 
of the Central Empires ceased to operate. Six and a 
half million tons of shipping in all the seas of the world 
were thus almost instantly immobilized. Further, 
every German colony, but for its wireless, was isolated 
from its centre and prepared for capture; while of the 
two million men of enemy origin who might otherwise 
have returned home to join the armies, scarcely a 
handful — such was the navy's mastery — was, in fact, 
able to do so. Lastly, not a single Dominion, Colony, 
or Dependency of Great Britain or her Allies was 
invaded or seriously molested by an enemy naval 
force. 

Now to have achieved all this, while at the same 
time containing the German High Seas Fleet in the 
North Sea — and so containing it that not even a single 
squadron was able to break through on to our lines 



46 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of commerce — is the best witness to the fundamental 
lightness of our initial naval strategy; although the 
test of war immediately emphasized what was then 
our chief need — an even larger number, such were 
our manifold requirements, of fast battle-cruisers. It 
was our shortness in this respect that, in the last 
analysis, led to the disaster of Coronel, arguable as 
the wisdom of certain of our oversea dispositions may 
not unjustly now seem to have been. And, while 
in our treatment of both the Goehen and Breslau, as 
regarded the Mediterranean, and the command of von 
Spee in the Far East and subsequently in the South 
Pacific, there are many points to be reasonably de- 
bated before the bar of naval judgment, neither prob- 
lem can be fairly considered apart from the whole 
situation. In the present and following chapters we 
are concerned only with von Spee and the five vessels 
under his command. 

To consider the vessels first, these consisted of two 
armoured cruisers, the Scharnhorst and the GneisenaUy 
and three light cruisers, the Niirnberg, the Dresden, 
and the Leipzig. Both the Scharnhorst and the 
Gneisenau were most efficient units, each with a speed 
of over 22 knots, each with a displacement of over 
11,000 tons, a belt of 6-inch armour amidships, and 
each carrying eight 8.2-inch guns, six 6-inch guns, 
eighteen 24-pounders, and four torpedo-tubes. The 
three light cruisers were each capable of a speed of 
about twenty-five knots, carried ten 4.1-inch, eight 
5-pounder, and four machine-guns, with .two sub- 
merged torpedo-tubes, and displaced between 3,000 
and 4,000 tons. It will be seen at once, therefore, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 47 

that they formed a homogeneous and easily manoeu- 
vred squadron, and it may be readily admitted that 
they were not only gallantly but very skilfully han- 
dled; while their concentration — since, at the out- 
break of war, they had been scattered over half the 
world — was a feat of no mean order, however open 
to criticism may have been the larger policy involved 
in it. 

As for von Spee himseK, he seems to have been of 
a type apparently all too rare in the German naval 
service, a chivalrous, modest, and efficient seaman, 
reticent in victory, and brave in defeat. Under his 
command, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau had 
attained an extremely high standard of gunnery, and 
it is probable that in this respect they were second 
to none flying the German flag. 

Leaving Kiao Chao during July, the war had found 
von Spee and the two larger cruisers many leagues 
distant among the Western Pacific islands and 
separated by thousands of miles from the other three 
cruisers, the Dresden, the Nilrnhergy and the Leipzig. 
Of these the Dresden was in the Atlantic, divided 
from the other two by the American, continent, and 
narrowly escaped capture at the hand of the British 
West Atlantic Squadron, of which Admiral Cradock 
was then in command. She successfully evaded him, 
however, and, making her way south, entered South 
American waters off the coast of Brazil, where her 
only possible antagonist at the time was the British 
cruiser Glasgow — a light cruiser of the Bristol class, 
displacing about 4,800 tons, capable of a speed of 25 
knots, and carrying two 6-inch and ten 4-inch guns. 



48 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Meanwhile, on August 11th, with all her lights out, 
there had crept out of the port of Pernambuco a 
German steamer, the Baden , carrying 5,000 tons of 
coal, which met and supplied the Dresden at the Rocas 
Islands. Three days afterward, the latter sank the 
Hyades, homeward bound from the River Plate to 
Holland with a load of grain, and, on August 26th, 
she sank the British steamer Holmwood^ also off the 
coast of South America. A fortnight later, on her 
way to the Pacific, the Dresden and her collier were 
creeping romid Tierra del Fuego, and here they met 
a second collier, the (Santo /sa6e^, which had left Buenos 
Aires on the 6th of August, nominally bound for 
Togo. 

That was in the middle of September, and, about a 
fortnight later, with her name effaced, her masts 
altered, and her funnels repainted, the Santa Isabel 
entered Valparaiso, remaining there until the end of 
the month, when she cleared, nominally for Hamburg, 
but in reality to join von Spee. In the meantime the 
Dresden had announced her arrival in the Pacific by 
attacking the liner Ortega near the western entrance 
of the Magellan Straits; and it was only by the re- 
source and seamanship of the latter*s captain that 
the British 'fehip succeeded in escaping. 

Bound for Valparaiso with 300 French reservists 
on board, she had a normal speed of no more than 
14 knots, while the Dresden, as we have seen, was at 
least half as fast again. But the Master of the Ortega 
was not to be beaten. Calling for volunteers to assist 
thfe stokers, he succeeded in working his old liner up 
to 18 knots an hourj and at the same time headed for 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 49 

Nelson's Strait — a perilous and uncharted passage. 
Chased by the Dresden^ and with her shells plunging 
on each side of him, he made the dangerous channel 
in safety. The Dresden turned on her heel, afraid 
to follow him; and he successfully navigated, prob- 
ably for the first time in history, an 8,000-ton liner 
through Nelson's Strait. 

With the Dresden in the Pacific, all von Spec's 
future squadron was now at least in the same ocean, 
and both the Nilrnherg and Leipzig, by stealthy 
degrees, were approaching the German admiral — the 
former, during September, having cut the cable be- 
tween Bamfield in British Columbia and the Fan- 
ning Islands, and the latter having sunk the British 
steamer Banhfield off Peru, while en route to England 
with 6,000 tons of sugar; the oil tank Elsinore; and 
the steamer Vine Branch, outward bound from Eng- 
land to Guayaquil. 

Whether, in the long run, it would not have been 
to Germany's advantage for these cruisers to have 
played their lone hands on the commercial trade 
routes; to have followed the example of the Emden 
and Karlsruhe rather than to have formed a fighting 
squadron, is a matter for argument. Coronel was 
their justification. The Falkland Islands saw their 
end. It was finally in the neighbourhood of Easter 
Island that they united with von Spec, who had 
in his turn eluded both the China and Aus- 
tralian squadrons, sinking a small French gunboat 
off Papeete, and bombarding the town on Septem- 
ber 22d. 

By this time, the Glasgow had been reinforced in 



50 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Brazilian waters by Sir Christopher Cradock in the 
Good Hope and Captain Brandt in the Monmouth, 
with the armed liner Otrando in attendance; and they, 
too, after similar secret coaling, were making their 
way round Cape Horn into the Pacific. Time after 
time they had heard, faint and far, the wireless calls 
of the Dresden and her colliers — ^they had even, on 
more than one occasion, quite unsuspectingly, been 
within a comparatively few miles of her — but they 
had never found her and were but slowly able to 
divine her intention of joining von Spee. 

That this admiral, with the Scharnhorst arid the 
GneisenaUy was making his way eastward was now 
probable, and the old battleship Canopus was in con- 
sequence on her way to strengthen Cradock with her 
12-inch guns. Up to the last, however, all were 
uncertain of the enemy's exact whereabouts and 
strength; and this was the position when, on the last 
day of October, 1914, the Glasgow was detached to 
run into Coronel — ^not unknown to von Spee, who 
had instantly ordered the Nurnherg to hover outside 
and watch her movements. 

Such had been the steps whereby, across so many 
leagues of water, the opposing squadrons had been 
collected; had felt their way tentatively, and, as it 
were, half blindfold, into the neighbourhood of each 
other; and were now, off the coast of Chile, each sp 
far from home, on the verge of their fatal collision. 
With the character and strength of von Spee and his 
forces we have already briefly dealt; and, in Admiral 
Cradock, he had an opponent of an essentially British 
and traditional type. A lover of sport, particular as 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 51 

to his wines, of medium stature, bearded and swarthy, 
Sir Christopher Cradock was less identified with the 
modern and scientific school of naval officer than with 
those light-hearted adventurers, of whom Sir Richard 
Grenville in his little Revenge stands as an historic 
example. 

Entering the navy in 1875, he had been attached 
in 1891 to the East Soudan Field Force, had acted 
as A. D. C. to the Governor of the Red Sea, and been 
present at the Battle of Tokar. For his services in 
that campaign, he had received the Khedive's Bronze 
Star and the fourth class of the Medjidieh. Nine 
years later saw him with the British Naval Brigade 
in China at the capture of the Taku Forts and the 
relief of Tientsin, and for this he had received the 
China Medal with clasps, and, in 1902, the C. B. In 
1904 he was given the testimonial of the Royal 
Humane Society for saving the life of a midshipman 
in Palmas Bay, Sardinia; in 1909 he was A. D. C. to 
the King, and receiyed the K. C. V. O. in 1912. At 
the outbreak of the war, as we have seen, he was in 
charge of the West Atlantic Squadron. 

Such was von Spec's opponent — a man perhaps, if 
anything, too ready to fight, whatever the odds — 
though it must not be forgotten that, until retreat 
was impossible, he could hardly have been certain 
of the forces against him. Whether or not he should 
have deduced these — whether he had in fact done so 
— must remain a matter of opinion; the captain of 
the Canopus seems to have entreated him not to join 
issue without him; but it is equally clear that, if 
he had waited for the slow old battleship, von Spec, 



52 THE HEROIC RECORD 

had he so desired, could have avoided action indef- 
initely. 

Considered in the Hght of after events, indeed, no 
action of the war seems to have depended less on 
human prevision, or to have been so determined by 
natural forces and a leisurely and inscrutable destiny. 
From the beginning, the odds were against Cradock, 
just as, six weeks later, they were against von Spec; 
and when the Glasgow, the first to sight the enemy, saw 
the four funnels of the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau, 
there could have been little doubt, save for extraor- 
dinary good luck, of the final issue of the battle. 

Opposed to these two cruisers, each faster than the 
Good Hope or the Monmouth, the Good Hope had an 
armament of two 9.2-inch guns as against the eight 
8.2-inch guns of the Scharnhorst, while the Monmouth 
in reply to the Gneisenau, with an equal armament to 
the Scharnhorst, could oppose nothing more powerful 
than 6-inch guns which were therefore completely 
outranged. The Good Hope herself, indeed, owing to 
faulty construction and the heavy seas, was but little 
better off; the Otranto, an unarmoured liner, was 
wholly useless in such an emergency; the middle-aged 
Canopus, with her superior gun-power, was still 
plunging along 200 miles away; while the Glasgow, 
speedy and eflScient as she was, was no match for the 
combined Dresden and Leipzig — to say nothing of the 
Nilrnberg, who came up later to complete the destruc- 
tion of the Monmouth. 

It was about a quarter past four on the afternoon 
of November 1, 1914, Admiral von Spee being then 
some forty miles north of the Bay of Arauco on the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 53 

Chilian coast, and the Niirnberg, which had returned 
after her vigil, having been once more detached on a 
scouting cruise, that the Glasgow and Monmouth, 
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau first sighted and identified 
each other. It had been a day of strong sunshine, 
sudden showers, high wind and a rough sea, and all 
the ships, especially the smaller cruisers, were rolling 
heavily and shipping a lot of water. When first 
sighted, the Glasgow and Monmouth, soon to be joined 
by the Otranto, were to the southwest of the German 
admiral, fifteen miles distant and pursuing a southerly 
course — obeying the order of Admiral Cradock to join 
up with the Good Hope. This was still invisible to 
the German squadron, but was sighted about forty 
minutes later, when Admiral Cradock took the head 
of the British line and both sides moved into battle 
formation. 

The position at this moment — with the long pro- 
logue over and the curtain rising upon the first act — 
was as follows : a little to the north and nearer to the 
land, that is to say somewhat east of the British line, 
the Germans were steaming south, the Scharnhorst 
leading, followed by the Gneisenau and the Leipzig. 
The Dresden was some miles astern, and the Niirnberg 
not yet in sight, though she had been recalled from 
her second patrol. On the British side, also steaming 
south, farther to sea, Admiral Cradock was leading, 
followed by the Monmouth and the Glasgow, the 
Otranto bringing up the rear, and with the Canopus 
far to the south, steaming north, but of course out 
of the picture. 

This was at about half -past five, both sides being 



54 THE HEROIC RECORD 

fully aware now of the strength and disposition of 
the other; both suffering severely from the strong 
head wind and high seas that were continually bury- 
ing them, and both with their eyes upon the setting 
sun now dropping rapidly toward the horizon. How 
vital that sun was each had instantly perceived. For 
the moment, protected by the glare of it, it advan- 
taged Sir Christopher Cradock, von Spee's squadron 
being brightly illuminated. But the distance was far 
too great for the British guns, and, in less than an 
hour, the conditions would be reversed. In less than 
an hour, himself in half darkness, von Spee would 
have the British silhouetted against the after-glow; 
and, in consequence, there had begun a race, which 
could have but one ending, for the inside or landward 
position. 

Already nearer to the land than Admiral Cradock, 
and perceiving Cradock's manoeuvre to try and re- 
verse this, von Spee had crammed full speed on, and 
was racing to forestall him, in the teeth of the wind, at 
20 knots an hour. To do so was essential, and to 
secure this position he outraced the Leipzig and 
Dresden, his superior speed enabling him to draw 
parallel with Cradock, while ten miles of sea still 
parted the squadrons. Here, while keeping pace with 
the slower British vessels, he was able to slacken down 
and await the Leipzig and Dresden; and when, at ten 
minutes past six, these had joined him, he began to 
draw nearer to the doomed British squadron. This, 
as all had foreseen, was now a series of dark targets, 
tossing clearly outlined against the sunset, with the 
rising moon in the east to render a chance of escape 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 55 

even less possible; and, at a distance of a little over 
five miles, von Spee ordered the first shot. 

The battle was now joined, and with every circum- 
stance conspiring against the indomitable Cradock 
and his men. Handicapped by the seas as both sides 
were, the British, farther out, suffered more severely; 
while, to the expert gunners of the Scharnhorst and 
Gneisenau, discounting this one factor, they formed 
an ideal objective. Within five minutes the Good 
Hope was hit, and, though she replied at once, her 
fire was ineffective; while, during the next quarter 
of an hour, the Scharnhorsfs gunners were finding her 
time after time. Meanwhile the Otranto had been 
ordered out of action; the Gneisenau was pouring 
shell into the Monmouth; and the Leipzig and Dresden 
were engaging the Glasgow, who was gallantly re- 
sponding to the best of her ability. 

So the fight went on through the brief twilight and 
into the early moonlit darkness. Thirty-five hits upon 
the ill-fated Good Hope were counted by the Scharn- 
horsfs gunners. One of her turrets was destroyed 
and a fire started, followed presently by an explosion 
that shook the whole air — the white flames mingling, 
in von Spec's own words, "with the bright green 
stars," like some dreadful firework. That, as von 
Spee believed, was the end of her. But Cradock was 
not yet finished, though his guns were out of action. 
The opposing vessels were now only two miles apart, 
and the Good Hope was trying to manceuvre to let off 
her torpedoes. It was but an expiring effort, how- 
ever; von Spee stood away a little; the Monmouth, 
totally outgunned, had already been silenced; a 



56 THE HEROIC RECORD 

hurrying rain-cloud had added to the darkness; and, 
though the German gunners, sighting by the red 
reflection of the fires that they had kindled on the two 
British vessels, still continued to fire a round or two, 
their adversaries were powerless to respond. 

It was now nearly eight o'clock. To the watching 
von Spec, the fires on the horizon had died down, the 
Good Hope's quenched by the seas that covered her, 
and the Monmouth's put out by the efforts of her crew. 
Though both vessels must, he knew, have been badly 
crippled, von Spee was unaware, of course, of their 
real condition, and had ordered his light cruisers to 
chase and attack them, himself crossing the British 
line, and turning his course northward. 

Meanwhile the Monmouth, staggering along in the 
darkness, and slowly sinking by the head, was in 
touch with the Glasgow — the neighbourhood of the 
enemy and the state of the sea rendering any assist- 
ance from the latter impossible. The Glasgow herself 
had had an almost miraculous escape, not only from 
destruction, but even from serious damage. "I can- 
not understand," wrote one of her officers, "the mir- 
acle of our deliverance; none will ever. We were 
struck at the water-line by, in all, five shells out of 
about 600 directed at us, but strangely not in vulner- 
able places, our coal saving us on three occasions — 
as we are not armoured and should not be in battle 
line against armoured vessels. We had only two guns 
that would pierce their armou»r — the Good Hope's 
old two 9.2's, one of which was out of action ten 
minutes after the start. A shell entered the cap- 
tain's pantry and continued on, bursting in a pass- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 57 

age, the fragments going through the steel wall of 
the captain's cabin, wrecking it completely. Again no 
fire resulted." 

_ Such was the position, with the Scharnhorst and 
Gneisenau hunting them through the darkness up 
from the south, the Dresden and Leipzig between 
them and the land, and the Niirnherg steaming down 
from the north. To remain together would be to 
sacrifice both; the Canopus, still in ignorance, had 
to be warned; and the Monmouth seems to have 
signalled to the Glasgow, advising her to part com- 
pany and make her escape as best she could. As 
senior officer, however, the decision rested with the 
Glasgow's captain; and it would be difficult to con- 
ceive a more poignant situation. Every instinct not 
only of himself but of all on board bade him stay with 
the Monmouth. But the reasons for not doing so 
were remorseless, and had, in the event, to be obeyed. 
Moreover, the enemy had already been sighted 
steaming abreast, about four miles away, morsing 
with an oil lamp; and the reluctant order to depart at 
full speed could no longer be delayed. Half an hour 
later, far behind them, the watchers on the Glasgow 
counted seventy-five flashes. On her way to rejoin 
von Spee, and almost by accident, the Niirnherg had 
run across the Monmouth and sunk her with point- 
blank fire. 

Sir Christopher Cradock was a Yorkshireman, and, 
upon the monument to his honour, unveiled two years 
later in York Minster, were inscribed these words 
from the Book of Maccabees, than which none could 
have more fully expressed him — 



58 THE HEROIC RECORD 

f 

God forbid that I should do this thing,^ 

To flee away from them; 

If our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren. 

And let us not stain our honour. 

So ended the first act of this outer-sea epic. That 
another was to follow none knew better than von 
Spee. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE BATTLE OP THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 

SITUATED off the southeast coast of South 
America the group of islands, known as the 
Falklands, had definitely belonged to Great 
Britain since 1833. It consisted of about a hundred 
larger and smaller islands, the two chief being East 
and West Falkland, separated by a narrow channel of 
water known as the Falldand Sound. About 250 
miles, at the nearest point, from Tierra del Fuego in 
the extreme south of the continent, they were some 
300 miles distant from the Atlantic entrance of the 
Magellan Straits. Their climate was healthful but 
not attractive. Rain fell on more than half the days 
of the year. The seas surrounding them, even in their 
December midsummer, were of an arctic coldness 
and more often than not shrouded with mists that 
made navigation difficult and unpleasant. The chief 
industry was sheep farming, most of the farmers and 
shepherds being of Scottish descent; but there was 
a certain amount of business done at Port Stanley 
in the way of ship-repairing and the provision of 
marine stores. 

Until 1904, when it was abandoned as such. Port 
Stanley had been a naval station, and it still remained 
the prin^iipal town of the islands and the headquarters 

59 



60 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of the Government. Situated on the eastermost pro- 
jection of the eastern of the two chief islands, it had 
a population of about a thousand, and stood on a 
tongue of land between the ocean on the south and the 
innermost of two natural and connected harbours on 
the north. Of these, the outer and larger was known 
as Port William, with its entrance to the east, the 
inner recess, on the shore of which stands the town, 
being known a;s Port Stanley. 

In 1914 the Governor was the Hon. W. L. Allar- 
dyce, and it was toward the middle of October that he 
heard from the Admiralty that a raid on the islands 
was to be expected and that suitable precautions 
should be taken. Accordingly, on October 19th, a 
notice was posted that all women and children were 
to leave Port Stanley; and this was promptly obeyed, 
camps being formed inland, and provisions stored in 
various places. All Government documents, books, 
and monies were removed from the town and con- 
veyed to a safe hiding-place; while, at the same time, 
a defense force was organized under the Governor, 
mustering, all told, about 130 men. All were good 
shots, and, with their two machine-guns, were fully 
prepared to fight to the last. On advice from the 
Admiralty, they were to adopt retiring tactics, 
should the Germans land; horses and emergency 
rations were provided for everybody; and, with their 
knowledge of the terrain, and their island hardihood, 
there can be little doubt that they would have put up 
a strong resistance. 

This was the position in the island when, on 
November 3d, a wireless message was received. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 61 

announcing the disaster at Coronel; and, five days 
later, this was followed by the arrival of the Glasgow 
and Canopus. A raid by the enemy now amounted 
to a certainty; both the British vessels believed the 
Gernians to be on their heels; and when, a few hours 
afterward, they received orders to sail for Monte 
Video, the feelings of the defenders naturally sank a 
little. They kept up a stout heart, however; the 
strictest watch was maintained; for several days and 
nights the Governor never had his clothes off; and, 
when the Canopus reappeared, having been turned 
back before reaching Monte Video, in order to help 
the islanders with her guns, there was a general con- 
viction that they would be able to give von Spee a 
somewhat difficult problem to solve on his arrival. 

Laying a chain of mines at the entrance to Port 
William, the Canopus was put aground in the inner 
harbour, whence, protected by the land, she would 
be able to fire her big shells out to sea; her smaller 
guns were converted into batteries, mounted in 
strategic positions among the surrounding hills. 
Meanwhile in England, under Lord Fisher, who had 
been recalled to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord, 
secret and decisive measures had been instantly 
adopted. Within ten days of the Battle of Coronel, 
by an act of the same genius that had created them, 
the Invincible and Inflexible — two of our earlier, but 
still very powerful battle-cruisers, each capable of a 
speed of 27 knots and carrying eight 12-inch guns — 
had been detached from the Grand Fleet, coaled and 
munitioned, and, under Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton 
Sturdee, were steaming toward the equator, unknown 



62 THE HEROIC RECORD 

to the world, to avenge Sir Christoplier Cradock and 
his lost crew. 

Ten days later, at a rendezvous in the South 
Atlantic, they met their assigned consorts under 
Rear-Admiral Stoddart; and here the jfleet assembled 
that was to proceed, first to the Falkland Islands, 
and thence, round Cape Horn, to engage von Spee. 
Apart from its colliers, of which there were about 
fourteen, several of these being out-steamed on the 
way to Port Stanley, it consisted of the Carnarvon, 
with Rear-Admiral Stoddart, the Kent, Glasgow, 
Bristol, and the armed merchantman Macedonia, 
including, of course, the two battle-cruisers from 
England, Sir Doveton Sturdee flying his flag on the 
Invincible. 

The Glasgow had been in Rio as recently as Novem- 
ber 16th, but every precaution against discovery had 
been taken; all communication by wireless had been 
strictly forbidden by Admiral Sturdee; and, at about 
eleven o'clock on the morning of December 7th, the 
squadron slipped quietly into Port William. For the 
anxious defense force on the islands the long vigil 
was now at an end. For such of the officers as could 
be spared ashore, and for those whose vessels had to 
wait their turn for coaling it was a welcome oppor- 
tunity to touch land again, and they were sufficiently 
prompt to make characteristic use of it. One of them 
tells us that, sallying out with his gun, he shot two 
geese and six hares for the wardroom larder — as 
ignorant as everybody else of the larger game that 
was even then heading for the islands. 

For the most part, however, all on board every 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 63 

vessel were hard at work getting ready for the search 
— a search that was still beheved, of course, to be 
inevitable, no news of von Spee having reached the 
island. The Glasgow and Bristol, in the inner harbour, 
were the first to coal, followed by the Carnarvon^ 
who only finished at four o'clock the next morning, 
her collier, the Trelawney, then going to the Invinc- 
ible. This was berthed beside her in the outer har- 
bour of Port William, the Inflexible keeping them 
company, with the Kent and Cornwall lying a little 
to the south, the Kent, with her steam up, acting as 
guardship. Further to seaward, beyond the mine 
barrage, was anchored the Macedonia, serving as a 
look-out vessel; while in the inner harbour were the 
Bristol and Glasgow, with the old Canopus still 
aground there. So the night passed. At various 
points in the islands, the volunteer sentries kept their 
watch; and it was from one of these, stationed on 
Sapper's Hill, above Port Stanley, that the first news 
of the approach of enemy vessels was received be- 
tween seven and eight the next morning. 

The day had dawned clear, with a calm sea and 
a light breeze blowing from the northwest. From 
horizon to horizon, in the glowing sunlight, the sea 
stretched blue as the Mediterranean. It was such a 
day as, in the Falkland Islands, might for weeks 
together have been prayed for in vain; and, hidden 
in the harbour, lay such a fleet as von Spee, in his 
most depressed moments, was unlikely to have pic- 
tured. That he would find the Canopus there he may 
have thought probable. That the Glasgow and Bristol 
might be there he had deduced from their wireless. 



64 THE HEROIC RECORD 

But that the giant battle-cruisers, Invincible and 
Inflexible, lay quiet as death behind those painted 
hills — that this December morning was the last morn- 
ing that he would ever look upon on earth — ^none had 
told him, and, for all his forebodings, he himself could 
never have guessed. But the stage was set again; 
the curtain had risen; the watcher on Sapper's Hill 
had heralded the last act. Let us look down for a 
moment with impartial eyes upon the chosen scene. 
Far to the south, resolved at last on action, but 
soon to pay the price of its strange hesitation, steamed 
the German squadron with its two colliers, the Santa 
Isabel and the Baden. To the watcher on Sapper's 
Hill, at that early hour, only the foremost cruisers 
were as yet observable, faint smudges on the southern 
horizon — the Gneisenau and the Nurnberg. Equally 
faint, but clear and at their mercy, must have seemed 
that spit of land to the observers on the Gneisenau, 
wholly unconscious, as they then were, of the brisk 
activities that lay behind it. Nor were the cruisers 
in the hidden harbour any more aware of what the 
day heralded for them. With the prospect before 
them of a voyage round Cape Horn, they were stirring 
with preparations, but not for immediate action. 
The Kent alone of them, acting as guard-ship at the 
mouth of Port William, had her steam up. Only the 
Glasgow and Bristol in the inner harbour had finished 
coaling and lay with full bunkers; and the latter 
had her fires out in order that her boilers might be 
cleaned. Beside the flagship Invincible, the colliers 
were still busy; the flag-lieutenant was yawning in 
his dressing-gown over a cup of tea. The Inflexible, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 65 

on one side of her, was in similar case, while, upon 
the other, the Cornwall was busy repairing her en- 
gines. Over them all arched a sky of serene and 
cloudless beauty. The air was so limpid that, through 
powerful glasses, the events of fifteen miles away 
might be happening almost at hand. 

The flag-lieutenant went on yawning. He had had 
a long day yesterday, had been working most of the 
night, and was short of sleep. There came a knock 
at the door. A signalman entered. The smudges 
on the horizon had revealed themselves as men-of- 
war. They could only be von Spec's, and yet it was 
hardly believable. To tell the admiral was the work 
of an instant; and soon the amazing tidings were 
known throughout the fleet. The Kent was at once 
ordered to weigh anchor, and every ship in the 
squadron to raise steam for full speed. Colliers were 
shoved off. Sailors who were in their "land rig'* 
scrambled out of it like quick-change artists. Down 
in the engine-rooms, grimed men worked miracles, 
of which, for the moment, let the Cornwall give an 
example. At eight o'clock, as we have said, she had 
hei starboard engine down, with one cylinder opened 
for repairs at six hours' notice; and yet, before ten 
o'clock, she was under way, and, by a quarter past 
eleven, making more than twenty knots. 

Meanwhile, at twenty minutes past eight, the 
Sapper's Hill signaller had reported more smoke on 
the horizon; and, a quarter of an hour later, as the 
Kent steamed to the harbour entrance, the captain 
of the Canopus reported this to be proceeding from 
two ships about twenty miles off, the two first sighted 



66 THE HEROIC RECORD 

being now little more than eight miles away. Three 
minutes afterward yet another column of smoke was 
signalled from Sapper's Hill; and the Macedonia was 
ordered to weigh anchor on the inner side of the other 
cruisers. It was now evident that von Spec was 
arriving in force, probably with the whole of his 
squadron; and, at twenty minutes past nine, the 
Gneisenau and Niirnberg were seen, broadside on, 
training their guns on the wireless station. By this 
time, however, at less than seven miles distance, they 
were well within range of the Canopus, who antici- 
pated them by firing a salvo over the low-lying tongue 
of land that sheltered her. None of this first shower 
of 12-inch shells seems to have been effective in 
damaging the enemy; but it no doubt confirmed for 
the German admiral the presence of the Canopus in 
the harbour; and both the Gneisenau and Nurnherg 
were at once observed to alter their course. For a 
moment it appeared as if they intended to approach 
the Kent at the harbour entrance, but, a few minutes 
later, they wore away with the evident intention of 
joining their comrades. 

Both cruisers were now visible from the upper 
bridge of the Invincible; and the tops of the Invincible 
and Inflexible must have been equally apparent to 
them; though it still seems uncertain whether they 
had positively identified yet the two great cruisers 
that spelt their doom. Meanwhile, in the harbour, 
every preparation was being pushed forward with the 
utmost speed. At twenty minutes to ten the Glas- 
gow weighed anchor and steamed down the harbour 
to join the Kent. Next to the two battle-cruisers, she 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 67 

was the speediest vessel in the squadron, and her 
orders were to observe the enemy. Five minutes 
later, the^Carnarvon put out, followed by the In- 
flexibhy Invincible, and Cornwall, the two big battle- 
cruisers burning their oil fuel, prudently spared for 
the occasion that had arrived. 

It was now twenty minutes past ten, and the 
character of the future action was already deter- 
mined. For the Germans it had become instantly 
clear that their only hope — if such it might be called 
— lay in flight; and, on the British side, the order had 
been signalled for a general chase at full speed. 
Gathering pace, the two battle-cruisers from the 
north soon overtook and outstripped the Carnarvon 
and Kent, the position at eleven o'clock, with the 
squadron as a whole making about 20 knots, being as 
follows — ^the Glasgow was still leading, but had been 
ordered to remain within two miles of the flagship 
Invincible; next came the Invincible herself, with her 
decks flooded by hoses to prevent fire and wash away 
the last of the coal-dust; the Inflexible followed be- 
hind her, on her starboard quarter, with the Kent 
falling away from her astern and aport, followed by 
the Carnarvon, with the faster Cornwall reluctantly 
obeying orders to remain upon her quarter. Left 
behind in the harbour were the Bristol and Mace- 
donia; but, just at this moment, on the other side 
of the island, a lady watcher at Fitz Roy, Mrs. Roy 
Felton, had seen and reported three other German 
vessels. Two of these — the third made its escape 
— were the colliers, already familiar to us, the Santa 
Isabel and Baden. The coal on board these vessels 



68 THE HEROIC RECORD 

had been obtained from various sources since tbe 
action off Coronel, some from the Valentino^ a French 
prize, and some from the British vessel Drummuiry 
captured on December 2d; and the Bristol and 
Macedonia were at once ordered by Admiral Sturdee 
to deal with them. Between nine and ten miles to 
the south, on a course east-north-east, von Spee in 
the Scharnhorst was travelling at full speed, followed 
by the Dresden^ the Gneisenau, the NUrnberg, and 
the Leipzig, in the order named. 

This was the situation then, and, before consider- 
ing in detail one of the completest naval victories in 
our history, let us examine it for a moment as it 
presented itself to Admiral Sturdee, a remarkably 
cool-brained and deliberate tactician. With a long 
day in front of him, with nothing to fear in the way 
of destroyer or submarine-attack, with the whole of 
the enemy squadron now before his eyes, and with 
perfect visibility, he possessed under his command, 
in his own flagship, in the Inflexible, and in the Glas- 
gow, three vessels at least that, in the matter of speed, 
were considerably superior to the enemy. Further, 
although the enemy's gunnery was known to be 
excellent both in speed and accuracy, the 12-inch 
guns of the Invincible and Inflexible enabled him to 
dictate a long-range action; and there were two 
other weighty considerations that suggested the wis- 
dom of such a course. For, while in gun-power the 
two battle-cruisers were far ahead of the Scharn- 
horst and Gneisenau, in armour they were not so 
strong; and the nearest repairing yard was at Gibral- 
tar. There were no obligations, therefore, to run 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 69 

any risk. There was every reason for not doing so. 
So long as, in the end, the Germans were sunk, a few 
hours would make no difference. Sailors fight best 
when well fed. Tobacco is an excellent solvent for 
undue excitement; and the British admiral therefore 
gave orders that dinner was to be served as usual, 
and that the men were to be allowed a few minutes 
for a quiet smoke. As one of the officers on the flag- 
ship afterward observed, they might almost have been 
at manoeuvres off Spithead — precisely the atmosphere 
that Admiral Sturdee had wisely designed to create. 

It was at five minutes to one, at a range of about 
nine miles, that the first shot was fired by the In- 
flexihle, taking for her target the light cruiser Leipzig , 
the last vessel of von Spec's line. Five minutes 
afterward the Invincible followed suit, also taking 
the Leipzig for her target; and soon afterward the 
battle resolved itself into three separate encounters 
— that between the Invincible, Inflexible, and Car- 
narvon, and the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau; that be- 
tween the Glasgow and Cornwall, and the Leipzig; 
and finally, after an epic chase, that in which the 
Kent overtook and sank the NUrnberg. 

These conditions were first brought about when, 
at twenty minutes past one, the Leipzig turned away 
toward the southwest, soon to be followed by the 
Nurnberg and Dresden, with the Glasgow, Kent, and 
Cornwall in pursuit. With them had started the 
Carnarvon, but the rear-admiral in command of her, 
finding his speed insufficient to keep up with the 
light cruisers, had to give up the chase, and joined 
the Invincible and Inflexible in engaging the Scharn- 



(TO THE HEROIC RECORD 

horst and Gneisenau. Leaving the action of the 
smaller cruisers in the capable hands of Captain Luce 
of the Glasgow, let us follow the fortunes of the other 
three in the most immediate and important task. Of 
these the ten-year-old Carnarvon, pushing on as 
stoutly as she could, was still trying vainly to keep 
up with her swifter sisters; and the first encounter 
was reduced, therefore, to a four-cornered fight last- 
ing for about fifty minutes. 

Beginning at twenty minutes past one, the Scharn- 
korst and Gneisenau, after five minutes of a running 
battle, turned a little to port, began to close the range, 
and accepted the challenge; and, five minutes later, 
opened fire themselves. Though of smaller calibre, 
their guns, firing very rapidly, were as usual handled 
with extreme ability; and, in the words of the flag- 
lieutenant — half-way up the InvincihW s foremast, in 
the director-tower with Admiral Sturdee — they shot 
indeed "fiendishly well." *'We went on hammering 
away," he wrote, "for some time, getting closer and 
closer, and they were hitting us pretty badly. I 
thought that our foremast had gone once. The 
Admiral and I were half-way up so as to get a good 
view. One of the legs of the mast was shot away. 
Shell fire is unpleasant, to put it mildly. Exploding 
shells, when they hit the ship, are worse, as one won- 
ders how many she will stand. The Admiral was 
wonderfully cool and collected, and I bobbed my head 
at every shell, and got a stiff neck from doing it!" 

At a quarter to two the Invincible was being 
straddled — the Scharnhorsfs shells, that is to say, 
were exploding on both sides of her — and Admiral 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 71 

Sturdee, consistently with his plan of action, drew 
away a little to avoid undue risks. The Scharnhorst 
had by this time been hit on several occasions, but 
had not been disabled, though she broke off the ac- 
tion; and, at ten minutes past two, the fight became a 
chase again, the Invincible reopening fire at a quarter 
to three. For eight minutes, again out-ranging^them, 
the Invincible and Inflexible hammered the two 
German cruisers, forcing them round to port once 
more to reply as best they could. The heavier Brit- 
ish guns had now begun definitely to tell, however, 
and the Scharnhorst was already on fire forward. *' We 
hit again and again," wrote Midshipman John Es- 
monde in a letter to his father after the action. "First 
our left gun sent her big crane spinning over the side. 
Then our right gun blew her funnel to atoms, and 
then another shot from the left gun sent her bridge 
and part of the forecastle sky-high. We were not 
escaping free, however. Shots were hitting us re- 
peatedly, and the spray from the splashes of their 
shells was hiding the Scharnhorst from us. . . . 
Down came the range— 11,000, 10,000, 9,000, to 
8,800. ^ We were hitting the Scharnhorst very nearly 
every time. One beauty from our right gun got one 
of her turrets fair and square and sent it whistling 
over the side. Suddenly our right gun misfired — 
we had got a jamb and one gun was out of action. 
The breech had caught against one of the cages and 
would neither open nor shut. We"opened up the trap 
hatch, and I jumped out, and down the ladder with 
two men to try and find a crowbar. The 12-inch 
guns were firing all round us, and our left gun was 



72 THE HEROIC RECORD 

doing work for two now that the right was jambed. 
The German shells were whistling unpleasantly close 
and there were splinters flying all over the place. 
The Scharnhorst was firing heavily, but I could see 
she was in a bad way. She was down by the bows 
and badly on fire amidships. I got the crowbar and 
brought it in, but they wanted a hacksaw as well, so I 
jumped out again, and just as I was coming back I 
saw the Scharnhorsfs ensign dip (never knew whether 
it came down or not, because just then one of the 
lyddite shells hit her and there was a dense cloud of 
smoke all over her) .* When it cleared she was on her 
side, and her propellers were lashing the water round 
into foam. Then she capsized altogether, going to 
the bottom." 

That was at a quarter past four; her consort the 
Gneisenau was still firing with all her guns; and, by 
this time, the old Carnarvon had at last arrived upon 
the scene — she had in fact fired a couple of shots at 
the Scharnhorst The three cruisers, therefore, now 
turned their attention to the Gneisenau, who, after a 
moment's hesitation, turned and stood at bay. 
Nothing in the whole day, indeed, was more gallant 
than her vain but desperate resistance. At half- 
past four she was still straddling the Invincible, 
though without causing casualties or serious damage. 
A few minutes after five, her forward funnel was 
knocked out and remained lolling against the second. 
Seven minutes later, just as she hit the Invincible 

*As a matter of fact, the Scharnhorsfs ensign was not lowered, but, as 
Admiral Sturdee afterward remarked, "Von Spec met his fate like a 
brave Admiral, though our foe." 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 73 

for the last time, she was herself badly damaged again 
between the third and fourth funnels; and how ac- 
curate the British fire had become can be gathered 
from the notebook of one of her officers, afterward 
rescued. "Five ten," he wrote, "hit, hit; 5.12, hit; 
5:14, hit, hit, hit again; 5:20, after-turret gone; 5:40, 
hit, hit — on fire everywhere; 5:41, hit, hit — burning 
everywhere and sinking; 5:45, hit — men lying every- 
where; 5:46, hit, hit." 

Listing heavily to starboard, and with her engines 
stopped. Admiral Sturdee had ordered the "Cease 
Fire" signal at about half -past five. But, before it 
could be hoisted, the Gneisenau began to shoot again, 
though now only spasmodically and with a single 
gun. She seems to have fired, indeed, until her 
ammunition was exliausted, when, at ten minutes to 
six. Admiral Sturdee ordered the "Cease Fire" again 
and, twelve minutes later, she turned on her side. 
"Then at last," wrote another officer, "away first and 
second cutters, man sea-boat. For the Gneisenau is 
heeling right over on her side in the water. The 
beggars are done for. All our efforts will now be to 
save life, having done our utmost for five hours to 
destroy it. . . . Three of our boats are away 
picking up survivors. The Inflexible's boats are do- 
ing the same, and so are the Carnarvon's. The sea, 
which, so different from its state at noonday, is now 
quite angry, is strewn with floating wreckage sup- 
porting drowning men. To add to the misery, a 
drizzling rain is falling. We cast overboard every 
rope's end we can, and try our hands at casting to 
some wretch feebly struggling within a few yards of 



74 THE HEROIC RECORD 

the ship's side. Missed him! Another shot. He's 
farther off now! Ah! The rope isn't long enough. 
No good, try someone else. He's sunk now. . . . 
Many such do we see. Now we lend a hand hauling 
at a rope, pulling some poor devil out of the water. 
As they are hauled on deck they are taken below into 
the wardroom ante-room, or the Admiral's spare 
cabin. Here with knives we tear off their dripping 
clothing. Then with towels we try to start a little 
warmth in their ice-cold bodies. They are trembling, 
violently trembling from the iciness of their immer- 
sion. Some of them had stuck it for thirty minutes 
in a temperature of 35 degrees Fahrenheit!" 

"The Invincible alone," reported Admiral Sturdee, 
"rescued 108 men, fourteen of whom were found to 
be dead after being brought on board. These men 
were buried at sea the following day with full military 
honours." Few will say that they were undeserved. 

By now the battle had been distributed over many 
leagues of sea; the units engaged were not only out 
of sight of each other, but even beyond the sound 
of each other's guns; and it is time to return to 
Captain Luce in his war-scarred Glasgow, who, with 
the Kent and Cornwall, was pursuing the three light 
cruisers. More perhaps than to any others of the 
oflScers and crews engaged did their part in this strug- 
gle mean to those of the Glasgow, The sole survivors 
of Coronel, they had lived, as none of their comrades 
had done, for a bitter five weeks, with the picture 
of it before them. When all would fain have stayed 
and fought to the last, they had been compelled, in 
the interests of their service, to take the harder way. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 75 

They had a peculiar debt to discharge, and now, if 
they could but seize it, their hour had come to repay 
it with interest. 

It was at about twenty minutes past one when the 
three German cruisers had broken away toward the 
southwest, the Dresden leading with the Nilrnherg 
and Leipzig following her on each quarter. The 
distance then separating them from the Glasgow, 
Kent, and Cornwall, was from nine to eleven miles; all 
were speedy, the Dresden being the fastest; and a 
long, stern chase therefore ensued. Of the three 
British cruisers, the Glasgow, in spite of her late 
experiences, was still considerably the swiftest; and 
she soon drew away from them> overhauling the 
Leipzig and Nilrnherg, until at three o'clock she was 
within seven miles of the former. Her idea was now, 
if possible, so to outrange the Leipzig as to turn and 
delay her until the arrival of the Kent and Cornwall, 
far slower vessels even than the Leipzig, but carrying 
fourteen 6-inch guns to the Glasgow's two. At three 
o'clock, therefore, she opened fire with her 6-inch 
guns, and, for more than an hour, engaged the Leipzig 
until the arrival of the Cornwall. By that time she 
had already hit her many times over, but had had to 
draw away on several occasions, owing to the accuracy 
of the Leipzig's gunners. With time and speed and 
the range on his side. Captain Luce, like his admiral, 
could afford to be deliberate; and yet even so, with 
a little more luck, the Leipzig might have damaged 
the Glasgow rather severely. Two of her officers 
stationed in the control-top had a very narrow escape 
from losing their lives, a shell passing between them, 



76 THE HEROIC RECORD 

and carrying away the hand of a signalman — three 
other men being wounded and one killed at about 
the same time. After an hour and a quarter, and 
having had an early tea, the Cornwall arrived on the 
scene, and was soon, as one of the Glasgow's seamen, 
admitted, "shooting very well." 

We have last seen the Cornwall, not wholly to her 
liking, upon the quarter of the even slower Carnarvon; 
but, a little after noon, to her great satisfaction, she 
had received orders to go ahead. When the three 
light cruisers had broken to the south in their en- 
deavour to escape, she had turned after them, as we 
have said, with her sister ship, the Kent, in the wake 
of the nimbler Glasgow. Now, thanks to the Glasgow 
and the superhuman efforts of their two engine-room 
staffs, both the Kent and Cornwall were at last in 
action, the former being ordered in pursuit of the 
Niirnberg — where we may leave her for a moment 
performing imperishable conjuring-tricks in the way 
of stoking and engine-driving, while her luckier con- 
sorts, already at close grips, were battering the Leip- 
zig to pieces. 

At twenty minutes to five, a shot from the Corn- 
wall, at a range of between four and five miles, car- 
ried away her foremast; but, ten minutes later, after 
deKvering a broadside, and as she was being hit her- 
self, the Cornwall drew away a little. The Leipzig 
had now lost one of her funnels as well as being on 
fire aft, many of her guns being already silenced; 
but at six o'clock she was still firing well enough to 
hit the Cornwall severely and once more to force the 
latter away a little. This was only for a moment, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 77 

however, the Cornwall reopening with lyddite shell at 
a quarter past six, and now pressing her attack home 
with tremendous force and accuracy to a range of less 
than three miles. In this the Glasgow joined her — it 
being obviously useless now to hunt for the Dresden 
miles away in the mist — and, by ten minutes to seven, 
the Leipzig was on fire everywhere, though her flag 
was still flying and her guns occasionally responding. 
The two British cruisers then stopped firing for a 
little, but dared not draw near for fear of a torpedo- 
attack. Blazing in every corner, with her sides red 
hot, and with great gaps in her torn by the lyddite, 
it seemed now that every moment must be the Leip- 
zig's last; but still she floated and would not strike 
her colours. Fire was again reopened, therefore, al- 
though, as one of the CornwalVs ofiicers said, "We all 
hated doing it," and, half an hour later, she sent up a 
couple of rockets signifying that she surrendered and 
asking for help. 

What her condition was then has been vividly de- 
scribed by Private Whittaker of the Royal Marine 
Light Infantry. "When we went right close," he 
wrote to his mother, "she looked just like a night- 
watchman's fire bucket, all holes and fire." Search- 
lights were now playing upon her through the rain and 
darkness, but, in view of possible explosions, the boats 
could not approach too near; out of her crew of over 
three hundred, less than a score were saved; and, at 
just about nine o'clock, she rolled over to port, seemed 
to recover a moment, and then slipped out of sight. 

So perished the Leipzig, not less gallantly, but as 
condignly as the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, news of 



78 THE HEROIC RECORD 

whose destruction had been wirelessed to the Cornwall 
and Glasgow. Whatever might happen now, victory 
was assured; the Good Hope and Monmouth had been 
amply avenged; and to the Cornwall and Glasgow, 
buffeting home to Port Stanley, few happier moments 
were likely to come. Into the feelings of Captain 
Luce it would be impertinent to pry; but a little 
may be guessed, perhaps, from what follows. *' About 
half an hour ago," said one of his crew, writing home 
on December 11th, "the Captain made a speech, or 
rather tried to, but failed. He first of all read out the 
King's message to the Fleet, and then tried to say a 
few words himself; *I have seen the Glasgow's ship's 
company fight twice, and I thank you for the way 
in which you fought. I couldn't have a better ship's 
company.' Then he said, *I can't say any more."* 
That is to leap forward, however, three days and to 
leave the Kent still ploughing after the Niirnherg — 
out of sight of everybody now and with the impossible 
task of making a doubtful 20-knot vessel catch one 
five knots faster; and not only overtake her, but 
bring her to action, with the weather changing and 
darkness not far off. But to the engine-room staff 
of the Kent and to her stokers no less than to Captain 
Allen — "Sink-her" Allen, they called him — the word 
impossible, for to-night at least, might not be whis- 
pered with impunity. There was the Niirnherg 
flushed from Coronel, and here was the Kent with her 
fourteen good guns; coal might be short and the 
engines in their second childhood, but if those guns 
did not find the Niirnherg, it would not be the fault 
of the engine-room. First out of harbour in the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 79 

early morning, a spirit of extreme cheerfulness seems 
to have reigned in the Kent from the beginning of the 
action. Thus, at half-past ten, we find her officers 
drinking the toast of Deutschland unter Alles in sloe- 
gin. Soon afterward they lunched; and then — as 
many of them as could be spared — established them- 
selves on the top of the forward gun-turret to watch 
the fun. 

This was christened "the stalls" and seems to have 
been well patronized till half-past one when they went 
to Action Stations again. Falling out at twenty min- 
utes past two, watch was resumed from the bridge, 
which then became known as "the upper circle." 
At five minutes to four tea was served in the gun- 
room, and, twenty minutes later. Action Stations 
were taken up again. At that time the Leipzig 
and Niirnherg were well in view, with the Dresden 
almost out of sight on the horizon — the Leipzig on 
the starboard bow, nearer at hand, and being engaged 
by the Glasgow, and a moment afterward by the 
Cornwall^ and the Niirnherg away to port and con- 
siderably more distant. Then came the order to 
pursue the latter, the Leipzig being given a salvo or 
two in passing; and it was then that there began the 
race that was destined to become traditional in every 
engine-room of the navy. With no coal to spare, 
everything combustible was crammed into her long- 
suffering furnaces. Tables and chairs, officers' furni- 
ture, wooden companion-ladders, even planks from 
the deck, were knocked to pieces and thrust into the 
flames for the ultimate destruction of the Niirnherg, 

"The entire staff," afterward wrote one of her 



80 THE HEROIC RECORD 

engineer officers, "was doing its best, and, my word, 
it was a best. We pushed her along, more, more, 
more. The revolutions of the engines at the first 
time of starting were more than the revolutions the 
dockyard could get out of her, and she was worked 
up gently bit by bit, easying down occasionally when 
things looked as if they were not going quite right, 
or when they threatened to do so. An anxious mo- 
ment was reached when we got on every ounce of 
steam that the engines could take. We were just 
then going some sixteen revolutions a minute faster 
than the Admiralty full power, and also the designed 
power of 22,000 horse-power, some 5,000 horse-power 
more than we ought to have done. In times cf 
peace we should have been court-martialled for this, 
but we came out top. . . . We were doing from 
2 5 to 3 knots faster than the old Kent had ever done 
before. We were doing over 25 knots *full speed,' the 
highest ever attained being 22 knots." 

Fortunately for the Kent, too, the Niirnherg had 
her own boiler troubles, but they were of a different 
order, and she was unable to make her usual speed; 
and, after about an hour, the Kent was near enough 
to open fire at a range of a little over six miles. It 
was now the gunners' opportunity, and though they 
were reservists, drawn, as one of the officers put it, 
*'from all sorts of weird places," they rose to the occa- 
sion, like first-class experts, and found their target 
almost at once. Nor could Captain Allen afford him- 
self the license that had been the right policy for the 
other commanders. It was now past five; rain was 
falling; his supply of combustible bric-a-brac was 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 81 

strictly limited. It was a case of now or never, and 
the Kent, taking her punishment as it came, pushed 
the action for all she was worth. 

With her foretop shot away down to the crows' 
nest, and her silk ensign cut to ribbons; with her 
wireless knocked out, so that she could no longer 
send, though she was still able to receive, messages; 
with half a dozen holes through her funnels and sev- 
eral more in her side — she gained a quarter of a mile 
with every salvo until she was pounding the Niirnherg 
at less than three miles distance. Struck in all thirty- 
six times, and with five men killed and eleven 
wounded, the behaviour of all on board was, in their 
captain's own words, "perfectly magnificent " — a typi- 
cal example being that of Sergeant Mayes, whose 
courage and presence of mind probably saved the 
ship. 

A bursting shell had started a fire among some 
cordite charges in the casemate. A tongue of flame 
had leaped down the hoist and into the ammunition 
passage, endangering the magazine. Without an 
instant's pause, and although severely burned. Ser- 
geant Mayes picked up a cordite charge and threw 
it away, afterward flooding the compartment and 
putting out a fire that had started in some neigh- 
bouring empty shell bags. No wonder that Captain 
Allen, writing afterward to the Association of Men 
at Kent, should have said that "though the enemy 
fought bravely to the very end, against such men 
as I have the honour to command, they never could 
have had a chance." 

By half-past six, the Niirnherg was on fire forward, 



82 THE HEROIC RECORD 

all her guns being apparently silenced, and the Kent 
ceased shelling her, and drew up within two miles. 
Her flag was still flying, however, and the Kent 
opened fire again, but only for a few minutes longer, 
when the Niirnberg hauled her flag down and made 
signs of surrender. She was now blazing furiously, 
and listing heavily to starboard; and the Kent began 
to take measures to save life. Unfortunately all her 
boats had been holed by the Nurnberg's fire, and, 
before she could launch them, they had to be repaired. 
Two were quickly patched up, but the crews were 
only successful in saving a dozen men, five of whom 
afterward died on board from the , effects of wounds 
and exposure. 

To complete the victory of this single-ship action 
everyone on board had contributed his utmost, but 
it seems probable that in history the larger share of 
the credit will be given unstintingly to the engineers 
and stokers. It was certainly bestowed on them by 
their comrades in the Kent. 'The captain,' we are 
told, "nearly fell on the engineer-commander's neck 
and kissed him when he 'blew up' after the action 
to see him and to advise as to the best speed to go back 
to harbour. He nearly shouted at him for some time : 
' My dear fellow, my dear engineer-commander ! You 
won the action, you did it splendid! Without your 
speed we should have lost everything.' " 

Meanwhile, at Port Stanley, now in wireless com- 
munication with all the rest of Admiral Sturdee's 
squadron, the silence of the Kent, owing to her broken 
wireless, had begun to give rise to some alarm. "Kent 
Kent, Kenty' rang the invisible call, but there was no 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 83 

reply, and it was feared that she had been lost. It 
was perhaps characteristic that, in spite of this, she 
was the first of them all to reach port the next day. 
Of von Spec's squadron only the Dresden remained, 
to be run to earth three months later. The Bristol 
and Macedonia, after capturing their crews, had sunk 
the Santa Isabel and the Baden; and the total British 
casualties in killed and wounded amounted to less 
than thirty. 



CHAPTER V 

BACK TO THE NORTH SEA 

"Our trawlers mined the fairway. 

Our cruisers spread the bait. 

We shelled the Briton's seaside towns 

To lure him to his fate. 

We set the trap twice over. 

We left him with his dead — " 
" But now we'll play another game," 

The British sailor said. 

WITH the destruction of von Spee's squadron 
nothing of Germany's navy was left at large 
in the outer seas save one or two cruisers 
and armed merchantmen, whose days of freedom were 
already numbered. Of these the survivor of the 
Falkland Islands' Battle, the Dresden, was destroyed 
in the following March at Juan Fernandez; the 
Konigsberg, bottled up in the Rufiji River in Africa, 
was finally disposed of a few months later; while the 
Kronprinz Wilhelm, the Prinz Eitel Friedrich, and the 
Karlsruhe met with various fates during the same 
summer. That in spite of the enormous calls upon 
the navy in the way of convoying transports they 
were joined by no others from their home waters is 
the best tribute to the efficiency of our floating cordon 
in the North Sea. And yet its very success in this 
respect was largely responsible, perhaps, for a some- 

81 



THE BRITISH NAVY 85 

what distorted picture of the actual position — that of 
a sulky and immobilized German Fleet confronted 
with an impenetrable British barrier. 

That would have been hardly true even of each 
side's surface ships; but it was as far as possible 
from the complete reality. For what had in fact 
begun with the outbreak of war — what had never 
ceased day or night — was a desperate and unceasing 
battle, none the less crucial because it was so often 
silent. Some hint of its real nature might have been 
gathered from the laconic Admiralty announcement, 
a day or two after war had been declared, that the 
German passenger steamer, Konigin Luise, had been 
sunk, while mine-laying, by one of our destroyer 
patrols; and this vessel had been at work, fortunately 
with very little result, upon a subtle and long-pre- 
pared scheme of action. It is true that after she had 
been sunk, the cruiser Amphion — the leader of the 
Harwich Patrol that sank her — herself went down on 
one of the Konigin Luise's mines; but the larger end 
aimed at remained unachieved. 

This was no less than the mining in of Harwich, 
and was part of a deliberate and extensive plan, not 
only to cripple the northward progress of our larger 
squadrons to their war-stations, but to block the 
entrances of as many as possible of our chief naval 
bases. That some such policy would be attempted 
had, of course, long been foreseen. Germany's recal- 
citrant attitude at the Hague Conference toward the 
question of mine-laying had pointedly suggested this; 
and it was known that, prior to the outbreak of war, 
she had accumulated a store of at least ten thousand 



86 THE HEROIC RECORD 

mines. To counter such measures steps had already 
been taken in the formation, a few years previously, 
of a trawler section of the Royal Naval Reserve, 
whose business it would be to keep the channels clear; 
while a group of old gun-boats had been assembled 
for the same purpose to act in conjunction with the 
Grand Fleet. 

It had become instantly clear, however, that the 
original provision of eighty-two trawlers would be 
insuflScient; and, by the end of August, this had been 
increased to 250 — ^to be yet further and immensely 
added to as the busy months went by. Nothing in 
our naval record, indeed, was more dramatic or so 
signal an evidence of the national sense of admiralty 
than the gathering together of that vast auxiliary 
service of fishermen, pilots, and amateur yachtsmen, 
and the enormous responsibilities thrust into their 
hands to be so efficiently and light-heartedly carried. 
Time after time, by the resource of our fishermen, of 
sea-loving undergraduates, of amateurs of all sorts, 
what might have been disasters of the first magnitude 
were averted or overcome. Between the navy proper, 
with its thousands of other problems, and these new 
and insidious dangers — the laying of minefields by 
apparently innocent neutrals, the ever-present activi- 
ties of enemy submarines — the courage, the cunning, 
the native sea-instinct of these otherwise untrained 
forces was the buffer. The fishermen of Galilee be- 
came fishers of men. The fishermen of Britain be- 
came fishers of mines. And the debt of human free- 
dom to the latter is not immeasurably less, perhaps, 
than to their predecessors. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY. 87 

This was the true picture then of the North Sea — 
an area nearly three times the size of Great Britain — 
a Grand Fleet holding the exits and entrances against 
every possible sortie in force, but itself so threatened 
by submarines and minefields that at one time its 
war-stations were actually changed, and so nearly 
paralyzed that there were not a few hours when con- 
siderable units of it were practically embayed. Thus, 
definite minefields were laid by the enemy at South- 
wold, the mouth of the Tyne, and near Flamborough 
Head, and not only there but off the north of Ire- 
land, where it was hoped to destroy or disorganize 
the Canadian transports. Nor were our most vital 
waters, such as those of the Firth of Forth, free from 
the repeated visits of those early submarines; and it is 
primarily as trapping expeditions, leading us into 
prepared minefields, and only secondarily as baby- 
killing bombardments, that such raids as those on 
Lowestoft, Gorleston, and Yarmouth must in reality 
be considered. 

The first of these took place on November 3, 1914, 
the day following the Admiralty proclamation in 
which it had been announced that from November 
5th the North Sea was to be considered a closed area. 
This had become necessary, as was then publicly 
indicated, owing to the persistent and indiscriminate 
sowing of mines; because peaceful merchant-ships had 
already been destroyed by these on the main trade- 
route between Liverpool and America; because these 
mines had been laid by vessels flying neutral flags; 
and because exceptional measures had in consequence 
now become imperative. For these reasons it was 



88 THE HEROIC RECORD 

announced, therefore, tliat all vessels passing, from 
the fifth of November onward, a line drawn from the 
northernmost point of the Hebrides through the Faroe 
Islands to Iceland would do so at their own peril. 
Traders to and from Norway, the Baltic, Denmark, 
and Holland, were advised to use the English Chan- 
nel and the Straits of Dover, and were then assured 
that they would receive full sailing directions, and, as 
far as Great Britain could secure it, a safe passage. 

Meanwhile, in every dockyard, work was being 
pushed forward upon all sorts of naval construction, 
and each new problem, as it arose, was being consid- 
ered and vigorously dealt with. To guarantee, how- 
ever, in all circumstances and at any given moment, 
the integrity of our whole coast-line was plainly im- 
possible, though every month saw its increase of patrols 
and personnel; and, on December 16th, the enemy 
again bombarded three of our seaside towns. 

These were Hartlepool, "Whitby, and Scarborough, 
casualties being inflicted in every case. It was a 
foggy winter morning when three hostile cruisers were 
sighted off Hartlepool about 8 o'clock; and, a quarter 
of an hour later, the bombardment began, lasting 
till ten minutes to nine. The enemy agents in this 
case seem to have been two battle-cruisers and one 
armoured cruiser; and, though Hartlepool itself was 
an open town, land batteries in the neighbourhood 
endeavoured to reply. Their fire was ineffective, 
however; several soldiers attached to the Durham 
Light Infantry and Royal Engineers were killed and 
wounded; the gasworks were set on fire; and the 
civilian casualties amounted to nearly a hundred. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 89 

Almost at the same time, a battle-cruiser and ar- 
moured cruiser approached and shelled Scarborough, 
firing about sixty shots, while two battle-cruisers at- 
tacked "Whitby, civilians in both towns being killed 
and wounded. 

Owing to the objectives chosen, the conditions of 
the weather, the brevity of their visit, and their power 
and speed, the enemy squadrons made port intact 
again, though a patrol of destroyers very pluckily 
attacked them. In all nearly one hundred civilians 
were killed in these three towns, about five hundred 
being wounded; the military casualties amounted to 
thirty-four, and those on the three destroyers to 
twenty-eight. The German battle-cruisers employed 
in this expedition were identified as the Derfflinger, 
SeydlitZy Moltke, von der Tann, and Bliicher, the three 
latter, it was believed, having been also engaged in 
the previous raid upon the Norfolk coast. 

Though, as we have said, it was quite impossible 
to give an absolute guarantee against such incidents 
as these, they were certainly not soothing to the feel- 
ings of the Grand Fleet and least of all to those of its 
cruiser squadrons. In spite of the elaborate justifica- 
tions voiced in the German Press by such writers as 
Count Reventlow, they had outraged every canon 
not only of international law but of decent seaman- 
like feeling, and were an early indication of the hor- 
rible license that German sea-policy was prepared to 
allow itself. That had not yet staggered the world, 
as the sinking of the Lusitania was to stagger it, or 
such incredible atrocities as that to be associated with 
the Belgian Prince; but it had opened up a vista to 



90 THE HEROIC RECORD 

every clean-hearted sailor suflSeiently dark as to have 
changed the character of the war. It was now plain, 
for example, that such naval leaders as Admiral von 
Spec and the captain of the Emden were no longer 
to be regarded as typical of the directing minds of 
Germany's navy. How completely they were in the 
end to be disregarded was not yet manifest; but it 
was already :clear that the old and peculiar amenities, 
the traditional chivalry of sea-warfare, were but 
poorly respected, even if they were understood, by 
this latest aspirant to sea-power. It was with a 
special satisfaction, therefore, that early on January 
24, 1915, a strong patrolling fleet, under Sir David 
Beatty, received news of a powerful enemy squadron 
not far away to the south-south-east. 

This consisted, as soon became clear, of the Derf- 
flinger, SeydlitZy MoltJce, and Blilcher^ with six light 
cruisers and a strong force of destroyers; and there 
was little doubt that they were once more en route 
for a bombardment of some part of our coast. With 
Admiral Beatty, who was flying his flag on the Lion^ 
were the Princess Royal, the Tiger, the New Zealand, 
and Indomitable, all powerful vessels, the three former 
each carrying eight 13.5-inch guns, while the New 
Zealand and Indomitable carried the same number of 
12-inch guns. In company with these, disposed on 
their port beam, were the light cruisers Southampton, 
Nottingham, Birmingham, and Lowestoft, and, scout- 
ing ahead — the two squadrons having met at sea — 
were Commodore Tyrwhitt in the Arethusa, com- 
manding three flotillas of destroyers, and the two 
light cruisers Aurora and Undaunted. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 91 

It was Sunday morning; the day had broken clear 
at about a quarter to seven, and it was a few minutes 
after this hour that the Aurora^ then travelling at 
twenty knots, sighted a two-masted, four-funnelled 
cruiser accompanied by some destroyers. Half conr- 
cealed by her smoke, in the uncertain light, and at 
about four miles distance, the Aurora, for a few 
moments, had been unable to determine her nation- 
ality; and it was for these reasons that the enemy 
cruiser — afterward known to be the Kolberg — ^was the 
first to open fire. No appreciable damage was caused 
to the Aurora, however, who replied immediately and 
with such good effect that, five minutes later, the 
Kolherg changed course and retired upon the stronger 
enemy forces that had now become visible. The 
presence of these had at once been signalled to 
Admiral Beatty and his cruisers, and the whole squad- 
ron at once worked up to its full speed of 28| knots. 
When first sighted, the enemy vessels had been steer- 
ing northwest, but they immediately changed their 
course to the southeast, the distance separating the 
two squadrons being then about fourteen miles, and 
their position, at half-past seven, being about thirty 
miles from the English coast. 

From the outset it had been evident that the enemy 
did not mean to engage, and that, if he were to be 
brought to action, it would only be after a chase; 
and, although as a squadron we had the advantage 
in speed, our superiority was not very great. Nor 
was Admiral Beatty's problem in any other respect 
so simple as had been Sir Doveton Sturdee's. Not 
only had Admiral Beatty always to bear in mind 



92 THE HEROIC RECORD 

that he might be being led into some recently laid 
minefield, but he knew that with every hour he would 
be nearly forty miles nearer to the heavily guarded 
waters on the other side. Moreover, he had at all 
times to be prepared for a torpedo-attack from the 
accompanying fleet of enemy destroyers, while it was 
practically certain that, before the action ended, he 
would find himself in the presence of hostile sub- 
marines. He was further at a disadvantage in that, 
though he was stronger in gun power, he was forced 
to rely upon bow fire only, and this while travelling at 
full speed. That meant that, for the greater part of 
the action, his leading battle-cruisers, the Lion, Tiger , 
and Princess Royal could only bring to bear four of 
their 13.5-inch guns, while the Seydlitz and Molthe, 
firing astern, could each use eight of their 11-inch 
guns, the Derfflinger four of her 12-inch guns, and the 
Bliicher six of her 8.2's. It became a matter of mar- 
gins, therefore — and not very extensive ones — both in 
speed and range, and of the British capacity to use 
these in the limited time before the German cruisers 
could reach their own waters. 

Some idea of what this meant can best be gathered, 
perhaps, from the fact that, though travelling at 
thirty knots, it was almost an hour and a half — during 
which time more than fifty miles of sea had been 
covered — before the fourteen miles that separated 
the two squadrons had been reduced to ten. This 
was just before nine o'clock, the enemy being still on 
Admiral Beatty's port bow, his light cruisers ahead, 
followed by the Derfflinger, Moltke, Seydlitz, and 
Bliicher in single line, with a large number of destroy- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 93 

ers on their starboard beam. Leading in the Liorii 
Sir David Beatty was followed by the Tiger, the 
Princess Royal, and the New Zealand, the latter and 
the Indomitable — both slower vessels — having broken 
all records, thanks to their engine-room staffs. 

Already a shot or two had been fired from the 
Lion^s forward gims, taking the Blucher as her target, 
and, a few minutes after nine, she made her first hit 
on this cruiser, carrying away her bridge, according 
to the prisoners afterward taken. At this range, 
with her 13.5's tilted at an angle of some sixteen 
degrees and her big shells dropping steeply, the fire 
of the Lion seems, under the circumstances, to have 
been remarkably accurate. About ten minutes later, 
the Tiger came into range and took up the attack 
on the Blucher, the Lion transferring her attentions 
to the Seydlitz, the next ahead. Meanwhile the 
enemy had begun to respond but without inflicting 
any damage, and, a quarter of an hour later, *the 
Princess Royal was able to join in the chorus, also 
taking the Blucher for her first target. 

The Bliicher, slower than her consorts, and already 
heavily damaged, was now dropping astern and came 
under the guns of the New Zealand, the Princess 
Royal transferring her fire to the Seydlitz with im- 
mediate and visible results. The enemy's destroyers 
were now throwing up dense columns of smoke to 
screen his wounded battle-cruisers; but, by a quarter 
to ten, not only the Bliicher, but the Derfflinger and 
Seydlitz were on fire. Our own light cruisers and 
destroyer flotillas had fallen back to port a little so 
as not to obscure the range; and the position just 



94 THE HEROIC RECORD 

before ten exhibited the Lion confining her attentions 
to the DerfftingeTy the Tiger attacking the Derfflinger, 
and, when this was hidden from her by smoke, the 
doomed and swiftly-flagging Bliicher, the Princess 
Royal shelHng the SeydlitZy and the New Zealand 
engaging the Bliicher — the Indomitable, in spite of her 
efforts, not having yet drawn within effective range. 

The condition of the Bliicher, as was afterward 
learned from prisoners, though it was to become 
worse, was already terrible enough. Early in the 
action her electric plant had been destroyed, and her 
men down below crept in darkness. Still too far to 
be raked, her decks were being excavated by half-ton 
shells dropping from the sky. In the narrow spaces 
below, apart from the shattering shell fragments, the 
enormous air-displacement wrought destruction and 
death. Iron plates were moulded by it as if they 
had been wax, and men tossed like apples and crushed 
to pulp against them. Later, as the range narrowed, 
the Bliicher became more helpless, and, as she came 
under the full force of the British broadside fire, she 
staggered at each salvo, scarcely recovering before 
another hurled her again on her side. 

But the main battle had now swept on; and the 
fact that the Bliicher was left to her fate is the best 
indication, perhaps, of the injuries already sustained 
by her speedier and stronger consorts. It was not 
until a quarter to eleven, however, that the Bliicher^ 
then far astern, definitely turned north out of the line; 
and, before this had happened, the German light 
cruisers and destroyers had closed in from the star- 
board and were threatening a torpedo attack. The 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY ^ 95 

British light forces were accordingly ordered up to 
prevent this, the Lion and Tiger also opening upon 
the enemy destroyers. The attack never material- 
ized, however; was possibly only a feint; and would in 
any case have been checkmated by the admirable 
handling of the M division of destroyers under 
Captain the Hon H. Meade, and particularly, per- 
haps, of the destroyer Meteor under Lieutenant 
Frederick Peters. 

This destroyer, with the Lion and Tiger, was the 
only British vessel to suffer material damage; and 
her position at one time, m the full field of bombard- 
ment, was[[one that her crew are never likely to forget. 
This was soon after eleven, when the Lion, who had 
drawn more than her namesake's share of the German 
fire, had been struck by a chance shot that reduced 
her speed to ten knots an hour. The rest of the 
destroyers and light cruisers had by this time dropped 
astern again, the majority on the starboard or dis- 
engaged side, while others, on the port side, had 
turned northward after the Bliicher, After the Lion 
had been hit, however, the Meteor was ordered up to 
cover her, thereby steaming under the salvos from 
both sides; and it is possible to glean an idea or two 
of what this meant from the account of it afterward 
written by one of her officers. 

"We were absolutely in the line of fire," he said, 
"shells whistling over and all around us, and now 
and again an enemy's broadside aimed directly at us. 
Try and imagine a frail destroyer steaming thirty 
knots, with four battle-cruisers on either side belching 
forth flame and smoke continually, the screech of the 



96 THE HEROIC RECORD 

projectiles flying overhead seeming to tear the very 
air into ribbons, 12-inch shells dropping perilously 
near, and raising columns of water a hundred feet 
into the air, a few yards away, the spray washing our 
decks and drenching all hands. Picture the awful 
crashing noise, the explosions and flashes, as shots 
took effect, the massive tongues of fire shooting up, 
and the dense clouds of yellow and black smoke 
which obliterated the whole ship from view as the 
shells burst on striking. And this, if you can imagine 
it, will give you some idea of the Meteor's position in 
a glorious action. Its terrible imposing grandeur 
made one forget personal danger. Of course, some- 
thing had to happen. It was simply inevitable. 
About eleven o'clock, the Lion drew out of the line 
temporarily, the Princess Royal taking the lead, and it 
was not till then that the Indomitable opened fire and 
took her part in the engagement. We had already 
been hit a couple of times, but without doing any 
material damage, and half of us missed death by 
inches; but it seemed as if we possessed a charmed 
life; it is truly miraculous, nothing less, that we 
continued so long without being disabled; but 
Providence must have been with us that day. Just 
about this time, the Blucher was in a terrible state; 
one funnel gone, the other two like scrap-iron and 
tottering, both fore and main topmasts shot away, 
fore turret carried clean over the side, and only part 
of her mainmast and fore tripod mast left standing, 
and even these in a very shaky condition. So she fell 
out of the line — a raging furnace amidships, helpless, 
unable to steam; and her sister ships left her to her 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 97 

fate. The battering she had undergone was some- 
thing incredible, and she was in her death agony now, 
so we began to close her, and found she was settling 
down, though still on an even keel. Now was our 
chance. We approached her, circling around, but 
even then she was not dead, for, at precisely 12.5 p.m., 
with the very last round she ever fired, she sent an 
8.2-inch shell into us, which killed four men and 
wounded another. But what a sweet revenge was to 
come ! Two minutes later, we discharged our torpedo. 
It hit her nearly amidships. There was a tremen- 
dously violent shock. She heeled completely over 
and sank in eight and a half minutes, hundreds of men 
clambering over her sides and standing there, just 
as if it were the upper deck, waiting for the final 
plunge." 

Not to be outdone, and consistent with her reputa- 
tion, the Arethusa was also in at the death, and had 
in her turn loosed a couple of torpedoes at the Blilcher 
with terrific effect — one striking her aft and one for- 
ward, reaching her magazine and causing a violent 
explosion. It was the Arethusa, too, who subse- 
quently embarked and brought home to port the ma- 
jority of the Bliicher's survivors, the rescuers and 
rescued being alike bombed from the air by a German 
aeroplane that had appeared on the scene. 

Meanwhile the Lion, having pulled out of the line, 
not vitally injured, but unfit for further action, the 
Tiger, Princess Royal, and New Zealand had continued 
the chase of the flying enemy, the Indomitable having 
been detailed to attend to the Blilcher. Round the 
wounded Lion^ to protect her from submarine attack 



98 THE HEROIC RECORD 

— submarines had already been sighted a few minutes 
before — ^had closed one of our light cruisers and six 
destroyers, and, at half-past eleven. Admiral Beatty 
called the destroyer Attack alongside, boarded her, 
and raced at full speed after his other three battle- 
cruisers. 

So fast was the pace at which the action was being 
fought that not only were these out of sight, but the 
Bliicher, now in her death throes, was also below the 
horizon. With her guns tilted, as she listed there to 
port, and the "Engage the enemy more closely" sig- 
nal still flying from her mast, the Lion had been sud- 
denly wiped off the slate, as it were, with what chagrin 
to those on board can be readily imagined. But for 
that unlucky shot, the Battle of the Dogger Bank 
might have been as complete a victory of its kind as 
that of the Falkland Islands, and it was only by a 
hair's breadth that the other three German battle- 
cruisers, lame and heavily damaged, contrived to 
reach harbour. 

Headlong as he was travelling, it was not till noon 
that Sir David Beatty met his returning cruisers, 
and, twenty minutes later, having shifted his flag 
from the Attack to the Princess Royal, he heard from 
Captain Osmond de B. Brock of what had subse- 
quently happened; that the Blilcher had been sunk 
near Borkum Reef, a Zeppelin and aeroplane bombing 
the vessels rescuing survivors; and that the other 
cruisers had made their escape in an eastward direc- 
tion. It was owing to the increasing danger from 
mines thrown out of the fleeing vessels, and the grow- 
ing proximity of the German minefields, that the ac- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 99 

tion had in the end been broken off; and whether it 
should, under those circumstances, have been pressed 
further must remain an open question. That quite 
apart, however, from its material advantages in the 
sinking of the Bliicher and the disabling of her con- 
sorts, the victory of the Dogger Bank had important 
moral results there is not a shadow of doubt. It had 
once more re-aflSrmed the value of the battle-cruiser 
for which the navy was chiefly indebted to Lord 
Fisher, and it proved to be the grave of the big-scale 
raids upon our open east coast towns. More than all 
that, however, it was a triumphant example of an 
instantly seized opportunity; it demonstrated to the 
enemy that, in spite of his mines and submarines, we 
maintained our full tactical liberty; and it was further 
evidence that in Admiral Beatty we had found a naval 
leader of the highest class. 

Those were the recognitions behind the "Well 
done, David" of the Princess Royal's coal-blackened 
stokers as the Admiral climbed in mid-sea from the 
little Attach into the famous cruiser; and they spoke 
again, on the following Tuesday morning, when the 
Lion limped up the Firth to her anchorage. Three 
miles away, in the Fifeshire valleys, ploughman and 
farmboy heard those welcoming syrens. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE SEAMEN AT GALLIPOLI 

ikT THE outbreak of war, Germany was repre- 
ZjL • sented in tlie Mediterranean by two vessels, 
-^ -^ the Goeben and Breslau, more likely, perhaps, 
to become historical than any two that she will ever 
build. Both were modern vessels, the Goeben, a first- 
class battle-cruiser, carrying ten 11 -inch guns and 
capable of 28 knots, and the Breslau, a light cruiser 
of about the same speed and with twelve 4.1 -inch 
guns. Outside the Adriatic, these were the only 
hostile men-of-war with which the Allies in the 
Mediterranean had to reckon; and, though full al- 
lowance must be made for the responsibilities entailed 
in preventing a sortie of the Austrian Navy, in con- 
voying troops from Algeria to France, and in avoiding 
the least infringement of neutral waters, the escape 
of the Goeben and Breslau must still be regarded as a 
disaster to our arms. 

On August 4th, before the declaration of war 
between Germany and Great Britain, but after 
France and Germany had already begun hostilities, 
the Goeben and Breslau had shelled Phillippeville and 
Bona, two Algerian ports belonging to France, and 
had returned to Messina in Sicily on August 5th. 
Here they obtained coal from vessels in the harbour, 

100 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 101 

the Italian authorities refusing, under the laws of 
neutrality, to allow them facilities for coaling ashore, 
and, by the same rule, they had to leave territorial 
waters within twenty-four hours. Their movements 
and whereabouts had, of course, been known through- 
out to Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne in command of the 
British Mediterranean Fleet; and now, being free to 
attack them, he was awaiting their departure, to- 
gether with a subsidiary squadron under Rear- 
Admiral E. C. T. Troubridge. The German admiral 
and his officers had no illusions as to the destiny that 
awaited them when they put to sea; made their wills; 
and steamed out of harbour on the evening of August 
6th. Their design, it was believed, was to rush the 
Straits of Otranto and join up with the Austrian 
Fleet in the Adriatic. The paramount importance 
of not affording Italy the least pretext of complaint 
seems to have weighed heavily on the British admirals. 
The Goeben and Breslau, heading apparently for the 
Straits, suddenly changed course for the southeast; 
and, though the light cruiser Gloucester, which had 
kept in touch with them, immediately notified this 
and went gallantly in pursuit, the superior power and 
speed of the two German cruisers enabled them to 
fight her off and make good their escape. 

They passed through the Dardanelles on August 
10th, and, three days later, were said to have been 
bought by the Turkish Government, by whose officers 
and crews they were in future to be manned. Sir 
Berkeley Milne was recalled for an inquiry, the senior 
French officer, Admiral Boue de Lapeyrere, taking his 
place as Commander of the combined British and 



102 THE HEROIC RECORD 

French forces, on August SOtli; and, on September 
20tli, Rear-Admiral Troubridge also returned home. 
At his own request, he was court-martialled on Novem- 
ber 5th, Admirals Sir Hedworth Meux and Sir George 
Callaghan conducting the inquiry, and, on Novem- 
ber 12th, it was announced that he had been ac- 
quitted of all blame. Sir Berkeley Milne was also 
exonerated as the result of an Admiralty investiga- 
tion. 

So ended an episode in which, from the strictly 
naval standpoint, and though our leaders in the 
Mediterranean were held free from blame, it must 
be admitted that the honours rested with the German 
admiral and the perspicacity of his advisers in Berlin. 
Whether or no the arrival at Constantinople of the 
Goehen and Breslau was the determining factor in the 
Turkish Government's policy; how, if they had been 
sunk by us, that Government might have acted; and 
the effect on the situation that they had created of a 
prompter and more drastic action on our own part — 
these matters can never probably be accurately deter- 
mined. On the other hand, it is clear that, both 
in material and moral effect, their presence was an 
enormous asset to German diplomacy; and that, in- 
directly at any rate, our campaign in Gallipoli, with 
all its consequences, derived from them. On Sep- 
tember 27th, Turkey closed the Dardanelles; on 
October 31st, she declared war; and, three days later, 
on instructions from the Admiralty, but without ref- 
erence to the War Council, certain units of the 
Mediterranean Fleet shelled the outer forts of the 
Dardanelles. In the light of after events, this was 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 103 

undoubtedly an error, but it was undertaken at the 
time with the purpose of ascertaining the effective 
range of the protecting Turkish guns. 

Now to obtain a fair picture of the operations at 
Gallipoli that were afterward undertaken — opera- 
tions in the first place wholly naval, but finally 
predominantly military — it is necessary to return for 
a moment to London and to study the general back- 
ground against which they must be viewed. Here, 
after all, were the two or three brains upon which, as a 
whole, our strategy depended; and it is interesting to 
note how the mechanism through which they acted 
had become moulded and modified by the stress of 
war. For it must be remembered that, after those 
admirable dispositions, long considered and provided 
for by the Committee of Imperial Defence, had been 
undertaken — after not only the navy and army, but 
every affected department had gone, as it were, to its 
war-stations — an era followed that is best to be de- 
scribed as the era of improvisation. 

No such war had been fought upon the earth's 
surface, and each succeeding day opened a new pros- 
pect. With every branch of both services discover- 
ing strange and imperative needs; with no section of 
our national life that was failing to experience some 
fresh dislocation — it was little wonder that, in the 
various higher executives, changes and experiments 
in change should have been found necessary. Many, 
perhaps most of these, were proved to be inadequate, 
and replaced by others as the war went on. Others 
were doomed from the first and should never have 
been embarked upon. It had been so arranged, for 



104 THE HEROIC RECORD 

example, at the War Office, that most of the General 
Staff officers should take commands in the field; and, 
when Lord Kitchener became Secretary for War, the 
General Staff practically ceased to exist. 

Accustomed to self-reliance, to centralization even 
in the minutest details. Lord Kitchener assumed 
powers so various and important, as it was impossible 
for any one man to wield; and, to some extent, 
though not to such an extreme, a similar process had 
set in at the Admiralty. Instead of the Board of 
Admiralty, consisting of the First Lord, the four Sea 
Lords, the two Civil Lords, the Parliamentary and 
Permanent Secretaries, there had come into being a 
War Staff Group, including the First Lord and the 
First Sea Lord (but none of the other Sea Lords), 
the Chief of Staff, the Permanent Secretary, a Naval 
Secretary, and Sir Arthur Wilson — the latter, "Tug" 
Wilson, as he was called, although retired, being 
regarded as one of our greatest naval strategists. 
That was the composition in November, 1914, of the 
real directorate of the navy. Lord Fisher, who suc- 
ceeded Prince Louis of Battenburg, on October 30th, 
being First Sea Lord. 

As in the War Office and Admiralty, a similar kind 
of change had become observable in the Cabinet. 
Theoretically the direction of the war rested, of 
course, in the hands of this body, assisted in their 
deliberations by the Committee of Imperial Defense. 
Practically both the Cabinet and the Committee of 
Imperial Defense fell more and more into abeyance, 
the conduct of the war passing into the hands of a 
new and smaller body, known as the War Council. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 105 

This consisted of the Prime Minister, then Mr. 
Asquith, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lloyd 
George, the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, the 
Secretary of State for India, the Marquis of Crewe, 
the Secretary for War, Lord Kitchener, and the First 
Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Winston Churchill. 
Of these, however, the main responsibility rested 
upon Mr. Asquith, Mr.^Churchill, and Lord Kitchener. 
This was in practice the triumvirate then conducting 
the war, as far as the British Empire was concerned, 
and each of the three was a man of strong and out- 
standing personality. In Mr. Asquith the country 
was being served by a statesman of very typical 
English qualities, imperturbable, perhaps a little 
slow-moving, magnanimous, shrewd, and of great 
intellectual capacity. In Mr. Churchill the Admir- 
alty had at its head a man of brilliant and impulsive 
mentality, complete physical and moral fearlessness, 
and a somewhat headstrong initiative. In Lord 
Kitchener there had come to the War Office the fore- 
most soldier of the Empire, the man who had been 
recalled by an irresistible popular appeal from the 
governorship of Egypt, in whose name the new 
armies, voluntarily recruited from every social rank, 
had outrun equipment, ammunition, even places 
to be lodged in — a man who already, in his sixty- 
fourth year, had become an almost legendary figure, 
the liberator of the Sudan, Roberts' successor in 
South Africa, the administrator of India and Egypt, 
omnivorous of work, relentless, silent, and the public's 
beau-ideal of personal efficiency. 

But, while of these three, it was little wonder that, 



106 THE HEROIC RECORD 

politics apart. Lord Kitchener predominated, another 
figure, scarcely less powerful, and hardly second as a 
national idol, stood, as it were, at the elbow of this 
inner triumvirate in the person of Lord Fisher. The 
maker of the modern navy, and, in an even more 
vital sphere, as authoritative an influence as Lord 
Kitchener, at the age of seventy he had returned to 
the Admiralty with an almost equal popular approval. 
He had not, however, as had Lord Kitchener, an 
actual place in the War Council; and he was not, of 
course, present at many of its meetings. 

This was the position at home, then, when, at a 
gathering of the War Council, held on November 
25th, it was suggested by Mr. Churchill that the best 
way to defend Egypt was to attack some part of 
Turkey's Asiatic coast, and that an occupation of the 
Gallipoli Peninsula would give us the control of the 
Dardanelles and put Constantinople at our mercy— 
the idea in Mr. Churchill's mind being evidently that 
of a combined naval and military movement on a 
big scale. That some such attack on the Turkish 
lines of communication might eventually become de- 
sirable Lord Kitchener agreed. He did not consider, 
however, that the time had arrived for it; and when, 
a few days later, Mr. Churchill suggested to the War 
Office the advisability of collecting enough transport 
for 40,000 men — such transport to be assembled in 
Egypt — Lord Kitchener again replied that he did 
not think this was yet necessary, and that he would 
give the Admiralty full notice. The precaution was 
taken, however, in spite of this, to send horse-boats 
to Egypt whenever convenient, in view of the possible 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 107 

occasion of some such expedition as had already now 
become adumbrated. 

Meanwhile the navy was playing its part in various 
operations already necessitated by the war with 
Turkey. Thus, on November 2nd, the Minerva, a 
sixteen-year-old protected cruiser, had shelled the 
forts and barracks of Akaba in the Red Sea; and, on 
November 8th, the town of Fao, at the head of the 
Persian Gulf, had been bombarded to cover the land- 
ing of troops from India, whence they captured Basra 
on November 21st. Simultaneously, of course, be- 
tween Russia and Turkey, the struggle for the mastery 
of the Black Sea had been progressing. On Novem- 
ber 10th, the Russians had sunk four Turkish trans- 
ports; and, on November 18th, the Goeben had been 
materially damaged in an engagement off Sebastopol. 
Two days later, the Turkish Hamidieh had bom- 
barded Tuapse. On December 10th, the Goeben, 
having been repaired, with the Berk-i-Satvet, shelled 
Batum; and, on December 12th, the Hamidieh was 
damaged by a mine in the Bosphorus. The first 
notable Turkish loss, however, was in the torpedoing 
of the battleship Messudiyeh in the Dardanelles, on 
December 13th, by the British submarine £11, under 
circumstances that will be referred to later. On 
December 17th, the Russian cruiser AsJcold sank a 
couple of Turkish steamers off Beyrout, and, on 
December 26th, the Goeben was again damaged, this 
time, like the Hamidieh, by a mine in the Bosphorus. 
Later, having been once more repaired, she was again 
to figure in desultory raiding actions on Black Sea 
ports; but, by the end of the year, it may be said that 



108 THE HEROIC RECORD 

the Russian Navy was practically in unchallenged 
command of the Black Sea. 

Russia's position in the land campaign against 
Turkey was not, however, quite so satisfactory, and 
it was on January 2nd that there was received in 
London a telegram from Sir George Buchanan, our 
ambassador in Petrograd, destined to have a profound 
effect upon our Near East policy. In this it was 
stated that the Russian armies were being rather 
severely pressed in the Caucasus, and that the Rus- 
sian Government hoped it might be found possible 
for a demonstration to be made against Turkey else- 
where. On this same day, Lord Kitchener wrote to 
Mr. Churchill that he did not think we could do any- 
thing that would seriously help the Russians in the 
Caucasus; that we had no troops to land anywhere; 
that the only place where a demonstration might 
check the sending eastward of Turkey's reinforce- 
ments was the Dardanelles; but that we should not 
be ready for anything big for some months. A tele- 
gram was, however, sent to Russia the next day that 
some demonstration would be made, although it was 
unlikely, it was feared, that it would have any great 
effect in withdrawing enemy troops from the Cau- 
casus. To an ally in a strait that was the only reply 
possible. But to the British Government it meant 
this — that by January 3d it had definitely pledged 
itself to make a demonstration against the Turks, 
and that the Dardanelles had again been mentioned 
as a possible arena of attack. 

Let us consider for a moment, from the geographi- 
cal standpoint, the sort of problem that was pre- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 109 

sented. A little under fifty miles in length, the 
channel of the Dardanelles — the Hellespont of the 
ancients — ^united the Sea of Marmora on the east 
with the iEgean Sea and Mediterranean on the west. 
Its general course was from northeast to southwest, 
but, at the point known as the Narrov/s, about four- 
teen miles from the ^gean entrance, there was a 
kink in it, lying north and south, a little over four 
miles long. In no part of its course between the 
iEgean Sea and the town of Gallipoli, where it began 
to broaden, was it more than 7,000 yards wide, and 
at the Narrows it was little more than three-quarters 
of a mile across. Its depth in mid-channel varied 
from 25 to 55 fathoms, and down it set a current from 
the Sea of Marmora of an average speed of 1| knots, 
frequently increasing, and especially in the Narrows, 
after a northerly wind, to as much as 5 knots. In 
addition to this, cross-currents were continually 
met with, owing to the shallow bays on each side of 
the channel. 

The boundaries of this channel were, on the north 
side, the Peninsula of Gallipoli which separated it 
from the Gulf of Saros, and, on the southern, the 
coast of Asia Minor, upon the westernmost portion 
of which had stood the old town of Troy. The 
Peninsula of Gallipoli was a narrow tongue of land, 
not more than three miles wide where it sprouted 
from the mainland, swelling to twelve just above the 
Narrows, but only five miles across at the Narrows 
themselves. It was almost wholly arid or brush- 
covered, with a central and irregular spine of hills, 
rising, in the plateau of Kilid Bahr and the heights 



110 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of Krithia and Aclii Baba, to 970,700, and 600 feet 
respectively, and, except for a few small beaches and 
descending stream-beds, facing both north and south 
in low, precipitous cliffs. 

The southern or Asiatic shores of the Dardanelles 
were somewhat lower and more broken, the hills 
inland rising to 3,000 feet, many of them being plenti- 
fully wooded. Of these the most famous was Kag 
Dagh, the Mount Ida of the Gods, whence, in the 
Homeric poems, they had looked down upon the 
twenty years' siege of Troy. Every yard of these 
shores, indeed, as of the waters between them, was 
instinct with real or legendary history. Across the 
Dardanelles, Leander had swum to Hero. Over 
the Narrows, Xerxes had built his bridge of boats. 
By the same road, a hundred and fifty years later, 
Alexander of Macedon had marched to the conquest 
of Asia; and it had been across the Narrows, in the 
middle of the fourteenth century, that the Turks 
from Asia had swarmed into Europe. Constantinople 
and all but a few miles around it had soon been 
encircled by their advance, and had been finally 
occupied by Sultan Mohamed II about a hundred 
years afterward. 

That had been in 1453, and, nine years later, rec- 
ognizing the vital importance of the Dardanelles, 
Mohamed II had built the first two forts of the 
many that were afterward designed to protect them. 
These were the Old Castles, the Castles of Europe 
and Asia, on either side of the Narrows; and it had 
not been till two hundred years later that the two 
New Castles had been built lower down, at the iEgean 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 111 

entrance. From that time onward, till 1864, the 
fortifications of the Dardanelles may be said to have 
remained mediseval; but, upon the advice of Great 
Britain, then Turkey's protector, new works had been 
undertaken, and, after the Peace of San Stefano in 
1878, there had been a further strengthening of both 
coasts, the later fortifications having been German 
and the artillery provided by Krupps. 

Since that date, the Dardanelles had never been 
forced against armed resistance, and only once before, 
in modern times, when the British admiral Duck- 
worth in 1807 had made a plucky but not very long- 
Hved demonstration before Constantinople — Shaving 
had to retire, not without damage, owing to the pre- 
carious nature of his communications. 

Such was the geographical aspect of the problem 
that the Admiralty was called upon to consider; 
and the fortifications protecting the Straits were 
arranged somewhat as follows. Commanding the 
entrance, on the European side, were forts at Cape 
Helles and Sedd-el-Bahr with two others on the 
Asiatic side. Fort Orkanieh and Kum Kale. These 
contained, between them, ten 10.2-inch guns, four 
9.2-inch, and two 6-inch guns. A few miles higher 
up, about four below the Narrows, and just south of 
Point Kephez on the Asiatic coast, was Fort Dar- 
danos, mounting five 6-inch guns in rectangular tur- 
rets, at a height of about 350 feet. Opposite this, 
on the European side, was Fort Soghandere. The 
mouth of the Narrows themselves was very strongly 
guarded both at Chanak in Asia and Kilid Bahr on 
the Peninsula; and a fleet approaching the Narrows 



112 THE HEROIC RECORD 

would find itself confronted — apart from an unknown 
number of field-guns and howitzers — with ten 14-inch, 
eighteen 10.2-inch, eight 9.2-inch, and thirty-seven 
6-inch guns, as well as twenty-one 8.3-inch howitzers. 
When it is remembered that, in addition, there were 
the channel minefields and land torpedo-stations to 
be reckoned with, and an area of manoeuvre less than 
four miles at the widest, it will be seen that the pros- 
pect, on paper at any rate, was a sufficiently formid- 
able one from every standpoint. Could it reasonably 
be faced by the navy alone? Was an accompanying 
army absolutely essential? And, if so, of what num- 
bers must the latter consist to ensure success? 

These were the questions that now inevitably arose; 
and if, from a technical standpoint, the first could be 
answered satisfactorily, there would be many obvious 
advantages in the purely naval attack. If the navy, 
that was to say, could force itself unaided into the Sea 
of Marmora and shell Constantinople, troops that 
would be very valuable elsewhere need not be di- 
verted to a new theatre of war; a great deal of tonnage 
would be saved at a time when the pressure on our 
mercantile marine was everywhere immense, while, 
if it were unsuccessful, such an attack could be aban- 
doned, it was thought, without much damage to our 
prestige. 

It was quite clear, of course, that, unless the Straits 
could be secured behind it, the Fleet would not re- 
main there for very long. But, from evidence at the 
Government's disposal, it was believed that its ar- 
rival would have immediate and far-reaching re- 
sults — that a revolution in Constantinople against 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 113 

the pro-German Young Turk Party would almost 
certainly ensue; and that Bulgaria, then neutral and 
undecided, might definitely ally herself with the En- 
tente Powers. Further, the opening of the Darda- 
nelles would at once facilitate the admission into 
Russia of much-needed munitions, and would release, 
for the benefit of the world at large, considerable 
supplies of cereals. 

Moreover, there was another factor that forbade 
the question being summarily dismissed as techni- 
cally impossible. For, while it was true that hitherto 
the bulk of naval opinion had been adverse to the use 
of ships in a duel with forts, and while the results of 
purely naval action against such defenses as those, 
for example, as Port Arthur, had not been encourag- 
ing, it was realized that in the present war — as 
regarded the land, at any rate — the value of fortresses 
had fallen very considerably. Hammered by modern 
artillery, the world had seen such strongholds as those 
of Liege, Namur, and Antwerp, crumbling to pieces 
in a few hours, and theories were once more in the 
melting-pot. Since the outbreak of war, too, there 
had been added to the navy, in the 15-inch guns of 
the Queen Elizabeth, the most powerful marine artil- 
lery that the world had yet seen. Could the navy 
then tackle the problem alone? 

With all this in his mind, on January Sd, the day 
that we had pledged ourselves to do our best, Mr. 
Churchill telegraphed to Vice-Admiral Carden, then 
our senior oflScer in the Mediterranean, asking him if 
he thought it practicable to force the Dardanelles 
by the use of ships alone, assuming that only our 



114 THE HEROIC RECORD 

older battleships would be employed, with a suitable 
escort of mine-sweepers and bumpers, and suggesting 
that the importance of a successful result would 
justify severe loss. Two days later, Vice-Admiral 
Garden replied that he did not think the Dardanelles 
could be rushed, but that they might be forced by 
extended operations with a large number of ships. 
On January 6th, Mr. Churchill invited Admiral 
Garden to forward detailed particulars as to the force 
required, the manner of its employment, and the 
results to be expected from it. Five days afterward, 
Admiral Garden replied that five operations were 
possible, namely, the destruction of the defenses at 
the entrance to the Dardanelles; action inside the 
Straits so as to clear the defenses up to and includ- 
ing Point Kephez Battery; the destruction of the 
defenses of the Narrows; the sweeping of a clear 
channel through the minefields and advance through 
the Narrows, followed by a reduction of the forts 
farther up, and an entrance into the Sea of Marmora. 
What Admiral Garden suggested, in fact, was a 
methodical invasion with a systematic demolition 
of the fortifications — an operation estimated to re- 
quire at least a month for its performance. 

This was Admiral Garden's plan, and it was of 
course discussed by the Admiralty War Group, 
though never oflficially by the Board of Admiralty; 
and it is interesting to discover the general attitude 
of its naval members toward the scheme. Of these 
by far the most influential was Lord Fisher, who 
seems from the first instinctively to have distrusted 
it, to have been occupied with preparing for other 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 115 

operations elsewhere, and to have left it, so long as it 
seemed to him likely to remain subsidiary and addi- 
tional to these, in the admittedly capable hands of 
Admiral Sir Henry Jackson — not a regular member 
of the War Group, but frequently consulted — and the 
then Chief of the Staff, Admiral Henry Oliver. Sir 
Arthur Wilson seems on the whole to have taken 
up much the same attitude as that of Lord Fisher. 
x\dmiral Oliver believed in its possibilities, though 
these would largely depend, of course, upon factors, 
whose importance could only be determined by ex- 
periment. At the same time, he would apparently 
have preferred to wait until the army could co- 
operate on a big scale. Commodore Bartolome, 
while agreeing in the preferability of a combined 
naval and military operation, believed that, at a 
push, in a purely naval attack, about half the forces 
could get through, though what they would do then 
was a matter upon which he felt himself in the 
dark. None of these sailors believed, since it could 
always be broken off, that the proposed naval attack 
could lead to disaster. All assumed the necessity, 
as seen by the War Council, from a political point 
of view, of immediate action; and all assumed it to 
be the case, on the authority of Lord Kitchener, that 
no troops were at the moment available. 

Thus we come to the 13th of January, the very 
critical date when, at a meeting of the War Council, 
Mr. Churchill, with additional details, submitted 
Admiral Carden's plans. The outer forts having been 
destroyed, as could be done, it was believed, without 
the bombarding ships coming into range of their guns. 



116 THE HEROIC RECORD 

the inner would be attacked both from the Straits 
and by indirect fire across the Gallipoli Peninsula. 
Three modern vessels and about a dozen old battle- 
ships would, it was thought, suffice for the operation; 
and these could be spared without sensibly depleting 
our naval strength elsewhere. Further, the Queen 
Elizabeth, now ready for her trials and about to carry 
these out at Gibraltar, could instead fledge her virgin 
guns upon the forts of the Dardanelles. 

Such was the proposition laid before the War 
Council, and it was quite clear, of course, to every 
member of it that, with a minimum of effort, it 
opened a vista of very dazzling political possibilities. 
It was also obvious that Mr. Churchill himself be- 
lieved whole-heartedly that the attempt should be 
made. What was the attitude of his colleagues on 
this most important occasion? Now, while in the 
end it was Mr. Asquith who would have to be respon- 
sible for any decision, it was undoubtedly Lord 
Kitchener, in such a matter as this, whose opinion 
would carry the greatest weight; but Lord Fisher 
and Sir Arthur Wilson were also present, though not 
as executive members. Lord Kitchener, after con- 
sideration, pronounced himself in favour of the plan, 
pointing out that, if it were to prove unsuccessful, 
the attack could be discontinued. Lord Fisher and 
Sir Arthur Wilson remained silent, and their silence 
was accepted as giving technical consent. Nor 
would it have been true to have interpreted it other- 
wise, although the minds of both of them were occu- 
pied with other plans. It was therefore decided 
to instruct the Admiralty to prepare for a naval 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 117 

expedition in February to bombard and t^e the 
Gallipoli Peninsula with Constantinople as its objec- 
tive — a decision that was unhappily variously under- 
stood by the different members of the Council, the 
majority being under the impression that all they 
had done was to sanction the tentative preliminaries 
of a promising line of action. 

Mr. Churchill, however, thought otherwise, and, 
with his characteristic energy and enterprise, now 
threw himself vigorously into a scheme that more 
and more fully absorbed his imagination. He put 
himself into touch with the French Minister of 
Marine, who visited London and approved of the 
plans, and, with the consent of his Government, 
promised the cooperation of French naval forces 
in the Mediterranean. The precise sphere in which 
each navy was to act was determined with great care, 
and it was understood that Admiral Garden was to 
be in command of both forces. 

Meanwhile, however, from a condition of not very 
enthusiastic consent, Lord Fisher was slowly adopt- 
ing an attitude of more or less active disapproval. 
Already he foresaw that the proposed adventure 
would almost inevitably assume dimensions that 
would seriously endanger the larger scheme, upon 
which he and Admiral Wilson were hard at work. 
He accordingly wrote direct to Mr. Asquith on 
January 28th, submitting a memorandum that did 
not actually condemn the suggested bombardment 
on its own merits, but made it clear to the Premier 
that Lord Fisher was not in such accord with it as 
he had assumed. 



118 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Hearing of this letter, Mr. Churchill also wrote to 
Mr. Asquith, and, as a result of this, on January 28th, 
before the next meeting of the War Council, Mr. As- 
quith invited both of them to his private room for 
half an hour. The drama of Gallipoli, with its 
throne-shaking prize time after time on the brink of 
capture, with its pitiless slaughters, its amazing 
achievements, its epic presentment of human courage 
— the drama of Gallipoli was still in the future; but, 
in that half-hour, the stage was committed to it; 
and there can have been few discussions, during the 
course of the war, more pregnant with the issues of 
life and death. 

It would be tempting to linger for a moment over 
the historic picture of the three men in that little 
room — the old Admiral, pivot of so many controver- 
sies, but admittedly the greatest living seaman; the 
young statesman, who had already in his crowded life 
played so many parts, soldier, journalist. Cabinet 
Minister, and who had now been a brilliant First 
Lord for more than three years;, and the silver-haired, 
ruddy-cheeked Yorkshireman, to whom this was but 
one of a thousand issues, for which, as for his coun- 
try's entrance into the war, he must take the ultimate 
responsibility. In that half-hour, his was chiefly to 
listen while the two unfolded their separate schemes. 
Upon the attitude of his mind toward them at the 
subsequent War Council, its final decision would 
mainly depend. He entered it, inclining of the two 
toward Mr. Churchill's, on the ground of its general 
political advantages; and indeed the preparations for 
carrying out the latter were already far advanced. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 119 

This became clear when, at the Council Table, 
Mr. Churcliill explained what had been done. The 
Grand Duke Nicholas, then Commander-in-Chief of 
the Russian Armies, had welcomed the idea with en^ 
thusiasm; the French Admiralty had promised co- 
operation; the admiral on the spot believed that it 
would succeed; the attack could be stopped if un- 
successful; and the necessary ships were already on 
the way.' Further, the French were confideait that 
the Austrian submarines could not get as far as the 
Dardanelles, while the Turks, as far as was known, 
had no submarines at all. Little loss was expected 
during the bombardment of the entrance, though 
some might result during the sweeping up of mines; 
the real difficulty would be the attack on the Nar- 
rows, of which Mr. Churchill submitted the plan. 

Lord Fisher^then said that he had understood that 
the question would not be raised to-day; but Mr. 
Asquith held that, in view of the steps that had been 
taken, it could not be left any longer in abeyance. 
Lord Kitchener considered the attack on the Dar- 
danelles to be one of the utmost importance, and 
equivalent, if successful, to a victorious campaign 
fought by the new armies then training; and both 
Mr. BaKour and Sir Edward Grey dwelt on its politi- 
cal effect upon the Balkans. There then followed a 
dramatic incident. Lord Fisher, pushing his chair 
back, rose from the table as though about tg leave the 
room. Lord Kitchener at once followed him, and 
asked him what he meant do do. He said that he 
would not return to the Council Table and meant to 
resign his position as First Sea Lord. For a few 



120 THE HEROIC RECORD 

minutes the two men, each outstandingly first in his 
own profession, stood talking by the window. Lord 
Kitchener urging Lord Fisher to come back to the 
table*. He was the only dissentient, as Lord Kitch- 
ener pointed out, everybody else being in favour of 
the plan; and, after a little fresh argument, Lord 
Fisher returned and resumed his place among the 
others. 

Mr. Churchill had, however, noticed the incident 
and, after lunch, had a private talk with Lord Fisher, 
strongly urging him to undertake the operation, and 
obtaining his definite, if reluctant, consent to do so. 
At the afternoon meeting of the War Council, Mr. 
Churchill then announced that the Admiralty was 
wiUing to proceed, and, from that time onward, he 
never looked back. The matter, in his own words, 
had passed into the domain of action. By January 
28th, therefore, the country was finally committed 
to a purely naval attack on the Dardanelles with 
Constantinople as its ultimate objective. 

This was the decision, but almost immediately — 
almost insensibly in fact — the scope of the operations 
began to widen. From the outset it had been clear 
that the silencing of the forts would demand a certain 
number of landing-parties, although it was believed 
that these need only be small, consisting principally 
of Marines. Lord Kitchener himself was then of the 
opinion that, once the ships had completed their 
passage, the garrison of the Peninsula would evacu- 
ate it, and it would cease to have any military im- 
portance. He was also quite definite in his statement 
that there were no more British troops available for 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 121 

the purpose, an opinion which Mr. Churchill did not 
share, though he was, of course, overborne by Lord 
Kitchener's authority. Nevertheless the idea of 
military cooperation grew, as it were, unofficially 
in the minds of those responsible. Sir Henry Jack- 
son, in a memorandum to be adopted or not, accord- 
ing to Admiral Garden's discretion — ^pointed out 
that the naval bombardment was not recommended 
as a sound operation, unless a strong military force 
was ready to assist, or at least to follow it up. 

Meanwhile the Turkish attack upon Egypt had 
been defeated; certain of our plans in France and 
Flanders had been altered; and, on February 16th, 
at an informal meeting of Ministers, a very important 
decision was arrived at. This was to send the 29th 
Division, hitherto destined for service on the Western 
Front, to Lemnos, an island about sixty miles from 
the Gallipoli Peninsula — the Division sailing, it was 
hoped, within ten days. At the same time arrange- 
ments were to be made for a further force to be sent 
if necessary from Egypt; horse-boats were to accom- 
pany the 29th Division; arrangements were to be 
made to assemble a large number of lighters and tugs 
in the Levant; and the Admiralty was also to build 
special transports and lighters, suitable for the con- 
veying and landing of 50,000 men where these might 
be wanted. The military effort was already in em- 
bryo, therefore, before the purely naval attack had 
been begun; and, with all this in mind, we can now 
transfer our attention to the actual scene of conflict. 

It was on February 19, 1915, that Admiral Car- 
den decided to open the bombardment of the entrance 



122 THE HEROIC RECORD 

forts, namely those of Cape Helles and Sedd-el-Bahr 
on the northern and European side, and Kum Kale 
and Orkanieh on the southern or Asiatic. Admiral 
Garden himself, then fifty-eight, had had a varied 
and adventurous career; had taken part in the 
Egyptian campaign of 1882; receiving the medal and 
the Eledive's Bronze Star; had been present, two 
years later, at the Eastern Sudan campaign; and, as 
a commander in 1897, had been with the punitive 
expedition that followed the Benin massacres. He 
had reached flag-rank in 1908, and had been Rear- 
Admiral to the Atlantic Fleet for a year, being the 
Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard at the 
outbreak of war. 

Under his command, besides a flotilla of destroyers 
and the seaplane ship Ark Royal, were three old 
English battleships — the Vengeancey that had already 
been employed on the Belgian coast; the Cornwallis, 
that had been at the Nore, in the Third Fleet, chris- 
tened the "Forlorn Hope"; and the Triumph^ 
formerly the Chilian Libertad, that had been acting 
as Depot Ship at Hong Kong. With these were the 
Agememnofiy a more modern battleship, though about 
to have been passed into the Second Fleet; and the 
Inflexible, which we have last heard of helping to 
sink the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau near the Antarctic 
Circle. In addition there were under his command 
the Suffren, Gaulois, and Bouvet, three old French 
battleships that, the summer before, had not even 
been in c'ommission. All these vessels, however, 
with the exception of the Triumph, carried 12-inch 
guns and therefore outranged the forts; and, between 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 123 

them, they mounted a secondary armament of four- 
teen 7.5-inch, ten 9.2-fnch, ten 6.4-inch, twenty-four 
6-inch, eighteen 5.5-inch, and sixteen 4-inch guns. 

Beginning at eight in the morning, a long-distance 
shelHng was continued till a quarter to three in the 
afternoon, when the Vengeance^ Cornwallis, and 
Triumph, with the three French battleships — less 
valuable vessels that could justifiably be risked — 
drew in to shore and opened fire with their secondary 
armament of smaller guns. It then became clear 
that, in spite of the previous five hours' bombard- 
ment, the forts had not been silenced, for they im- 
mediately opened fire. They effected no damage, 
however. By nightfall, those on the European side 
had apparently been put out of action, but one of the 
Asiatic forts was still replying when the light failed 
and operations ceased. 

Bad weather followed, and it was not till February 
25th that the attack could be seriously taken u^ 
again, the Fleet having been strengthened in the 
interval, notably by the Queen Elizabeth with her 
15-inch guns. Together with the Irresistible, the 
Agamemnon, and the French battleship Gaulois, she 
began a long-range bombardment early in the morn- 
ing, and this was followed as before by an attack at 
close quarters — the Vengeance, Cornwallis, and Suf- 
jren again taking their part in this, with the Charle- 
magne and, later in the day, the Triumph and Albion. 
Even so it was not until evening that the last gun 
was silenced, and the trawlers, under cover of the 
fleet, were able to begin clearing away the mines. 

Nor could the results of these two days' bombard- 



IM THE HEROIC EECORD 

ments have been said to hold great promise for the 
future. So Kttle damage had been done by the first 
day's firing that the batteries were all active again 
by the second; and, at the end of this, when the 
demolition-parties landed, they found seventy per 
cent, of the guns still in serviceable condition. Few 
more dangerous duties, under such circumstances, 
can be imagined than those undertaken by these 
little detachments; and, both in the courage with 
which they were faced and the coolness v/ith which 
they were completed, the records of the navy and 
the Royal Marines were more than fully sustained. 
Particularly prominent was the act of Lieutenant- 
Commander E. G. Robinson, who on February 26th 
went alone, under heavy fire, into a hostile gun-posi- 
tion, that might well have been occupied, destroyed 
a 4-inch gun single-handed, and then returned to his 
landing-party for a further charge to destroy a 
second gun that he had found there. Owing to the 
fact that their v/hite uniforms rendered them so 
conspicuous as targets, Lieutenant-Commander Rob- 
inson refused to allow his comrades to accompany 
him on either occasion. For this act he was very 
justly awarded the Victoria Cross. 

Meanwhile at home, the lack of unanimity, of 
whole-hearted enthusiasm in the necessary team- 
work, and, more than this, of a detailed conception 
of what was actually intended were beginning to 
bear their fruits. Thus it had been decided, in the 
first place — and this had greatly influenced both 
Lord Fisher and Sir Arthur Wilson — that, if the naval 
attack were to become unpromising, it would be 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 125 

broken off and its losses cut. That had also been 
Lord Kitchener's view, but, on February 24th, he 
stated, at a meeting of the War Council, that if the 
Fleet could not get through without help, the army 
would have to come to its aid. By Mr. Churchill 
that had evidently long been accepted, and prepara- 
tions, as we have seen, were well under way. Trans- 
ports had been collected for the despatch of the 29th 
Division, and it was hoped that it would begin to 
sail on the 22nd. Two days before, however. Lord 
Kitchener had decided, for reasons doubtless im- 
portant, but without consulting his colleagues, that 
this Division could not be spared, and he had counter- 
manded the transports. 

Against this reversal of policy at a critical moment, 
Mr. Churchill made the strongest protest, and said 
that he must disclaim all responsibility if disaster 
occurred in Turkey owing to the insufficiency of 
troops. Lord Kitchener for his part asserted that 
the forces in Egypt, on the spot, and on the way there, 
were at present quite adequate, and that the 29th 
Division was not then essential to success — a view 
that the War Council supported, the 29th Division 
being detained in England. 

While now determined that the affair should not 
be broken off. Lord Kitchener still believed that the 
navy would need but little military help, and, on 
February 24th, he wired to Sir John Maxwell, then 
commanding the forces in Egypt, and General 
Birdwood, who was to command the Australian and 
New Zealand contingent on the Peninsula, that it was 
not intended to land parties on Gallipoli, except 



126 THE HEROIC RECORD 

under cover of the naval guns, to help in the total 
demolition of the forts, when the ships should get to 
close quarters. 

Two days later. Sir John Maxwell replied that, in 
the opinion of a French officer, formerly military 
attache at Constantinople, a military expedition was 
essential to the opening of the passage for the Allied 
Fleets; that a landing would be extremely hazardous; 
and that the Peninsula was very strongly organized 
for defence. Nevertheless Lord Kitchener retained 
his opinion and telegraphed the same evening to 
General Birdwood, that as far as could be seen, till 
the passage was actually secured, he would be limited 
to such minor operations as the final destruction of 
the batteries, though it was possible that he might 
have to organize expeditions to deal with inland 
concealed howitzers such as the ships could not 
destroy. 

General Birdwood had not then sailed for the 
Dardanelles, and, at a meeting of the War Council 
on March Sd, Lord Kitchener announced that it 
might after all be possible to send the 29th Division, 
but that he proposed to leave the matter open till 
March 10th, when he hoped to have heard from 
General Birdwood. By this time, the entrance had 
been cleared, and for several days the ships had been 
operating in the Straits themselves, bombarding 
Forts Dardanos and Sogandhere, protecting the 
mine-sweepers, and landing Marines — the latter 
suffering a reverse at Kum Kale with about fifty 
casualties. 

This was on March 4th, and the next day General 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 127 

Birdwood, who had arrived earlier than was ex- 
pected, telegraphed to Lord Kitchener that he was 
very doubtful whether the navy could force the pas- 
sage unaided; that the previous attacks had been 
comparatively easy, since the ships could stand oS 
and shoot from anywhere; but that in the Straits 
they were being bothered by unknown fire. Twenty- 
four hours afterward, he sent another telegram 
maintaining the sajne point of view. On March 
6th, a preliminary bombardment of the forts of the 
Narrows took place, the Queen Elizabeth and Agamem- 
non firing over the Peninsula from the Gulf of Saros, 
themselves being hit but not seriously damaged by 
concealed Turkish batteries on the Peninsula, yet 
without obtaining, as was afterward discovered, any 
appreciable results. The attack was renewed the 
next day, and it was believed that Fort Chanak had 
been silenced, several of our vessels having been hit 
but none of them placed out of action. In these 
operations, the Ocean, Majestic, Albion, Prince 
George, Lord Nelson, and Vengeance also participated, 
together with the French Suffren, Bouvet, Charle- 
magne, and Gaulois. So we come to March 10th, 
on which date Lord Kitchener finally released the 
29th Division, the transports sailing on March 16th, 
three weeks later than had been intended, and three 
days after Sir Ian Hamilton, who had been given 
command of the Expeditionary Army, left England. 
The time was now approaching when, if it were 
to be made at all, the navy must attempt its decisive 
thrust; and telegrams concerning this were already 
being exchanged between Mx. Churchill and Admiral 



128 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Carden. On March 11th, Mr. Churchill wired to the 
effect that, while Admiral Carden's skill and patience 
in avoiding casualties had been highly appreciated 
at the Admiralty, the results to be gained by success 
were deemed to be sufficiently important to justify 
a necessary loss in men and ships. The whole opera- 
tion might be decided, and consequences of a decisive 
character be produced by the turning of the corner 
at Chanak. It was recognized that the Admiral 
would have to press hard, at a certain point of the 
action, to obtain such a decision; and it was desired 
to know whether, in his opinion, the suitable occasion 
had now arrived. 

To this Admiral Carden replied two days later that 
he considered this stage to have been reached, and 
that, ill order to ensure his communications im- 
mediately he entered the Sea of Marmora, military 
operations on a large scale should at once be com- 
menced. On March 15th, Mr. Churchill replied that 
Sir Ian Hamilton would arrive on the 16th, and that 
Admiral Carden should consult with him as to the 
concerted steps to be taken. On March 16th, how- 
ever. Admiral Carden, for reasons of health, had to 
resign his command, and, on the next day, Vice- 
Admiral Sir John Michael de Robeck was appointed 
by telegram to succeed him. 

In this telegram, Mr. Churchill presumed that, in 
Admiral de Robeck's judgment, the proposed opera- 
tions were practicable, but asked him not to hesitate 
to say so if he held a contrary opinion. Replying the 
same day. Admiral de Robeck made it clear that the 
suggested plan of campaign received his full con- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 129 

currence; that the success of the undertaking would 
depend on his ability to clear the minefields before 
forcing the Narrows; and that to do this successfully 
the forts must be silenced while the mine-sweeping 
was in progress. He further stated that he had 
had an entirely satisfactory interview with Sir Ian 
Hamilton, General d'Amade, and Admiral Wemyss 
— afterward to become First Sea Lord. 

On March 18th, therefore, under excellent weather 
conditions, the decisive attempt was begun, with an 
advance fringe of destroyers and trawlers to clear a 
channel for the bombarding squadrons. Work upon 
the minefields, indeed, had already been in progress 
since February 25th, in which these trawler mine- 
sweepers, under Commander W. Mellor, had per- 
sisted with unfailing gallantry. With the current 
always, and the wind frequently, opposed to them; 
with every minefield accurately ranged, and hotly 
contested by the enemy's guns, they had suffered 
the severest casualties both in men and material 
without for a moment desisting from their task. 
And, manned, as they were, largely by reservists and 
men hitherto unaccustomed to war, they had ex- 
hibited qualities of heroism and seamanship not even 
excelled by the destroyer patrols. 

That is saying a good deal, since these latter, 
throughout the winter and under the worst circum- 
stances, had maintained a standard of cheerful 
efficiency as high as any that the navy had ever 
reached. Long before the naval expedition had been 
decided upon, and throughout the critical discussions 
in London, they had sentinelled the iEgean, the 



130 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Syrian coast, and the mouth of the Dardanelles. 
With their decks never dry, with their galley-fires 
out, with all on board drenched to the skin, they had 
ridden out storm after storm in these notoriously 
treacherous seas. Servants of everybody, succourers 
of the wounded, and general suppliers of the landing- 
parties, none — not even the submarines presently 
to be considered — were to play a nobler part in the 
Gallipoli story. 

It was at about a quarter to eleven in the morning 
that the great bombardment began, the Queen 
Elizabeth^ Injlexihle, Agamemnon, and Lord Nelson^ 
stationed near the entrance, opening fire at about ten 
and a half miles range. These four battleships took 
for their targets the forts at Kilid Bahr and Chanak; 
while the Triumph and Prince George, at closer range, 
engaged the forts at Soghandere, Kephez, and Dar- 
danos. This action was continued for an hour and a 
half, when a French squadron, magnificently handled, 
advanced up the Straits as far as Point Kephez, and, 
at close range, engaged the forts of the Narrows. 

AH the ships were hit, but, manoeuvring in circles, 
none was materially injured, the Suffren, Gaulois, 
Charlemagne, and Bouvet being the vessels employed. 
After an hour and a half of this inshore firing, the 
forts ceased to reply; and, at about the same time, 
the French vessels were relieved — the Vengeance, 
Irresistible, Albion, Majestic, Swiftsure, and Ocean 
taking their places. These vessels began their attack 
at half -past two, advancing in line and meeting a hot 
fire; and it was just as the French vessels were passing 
out that the first disaster of the day occurred in the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 131 

sinking of the Bouvet by a floating mine. This was 
in an area previously swept clear, and it opened 
up a new and diflacult problem, namely that of mines, 
loosed higher up the Straits, and drifting down with 
the current. Sinking in three minutes, practically 
the whole of the crew of the Bouvet was lost. 

It was now becoming clear that the old axiom as 
to the inferiority of ships to forts still held the field; 
and to the observers on land it was even more obvious 
than to those who were directing the gunfire afloat. 
In the rear of one battery, for instance, within a 
space not more than three hundred feet deep, there 
fell no less than eighty-six shells, the battery itself 
remaining undamaged, while none of the 6-inch guns 
of the much-hammered Fort Dardanos suffered any 
injury from our fire. The assault was continued, 
however, till dark, with the utmost vigour, in spite 
of the growing list of casualties, both the Irresistible 
and Ocean being sunk by drifting mines, and the 
Gaulois and Inflexible seriously crippled by gunfire. 

Struck soon after four, it was not until ten minutes 
to six that the Irresistible went down in deep water, 
most of her crew being saved, thanks, in a great 
measure, to the seamanship of Captain C. P. Met- 
calfe of the destroyer Wear, and Midshipman Hugh 
Dixon of one of Queen Elizabeth's picket-boats, who 
laid themselves alongside under a very heavy fire. A 
quarter of an hour after the Irresistible sank, the 
Ocean was struck, but most of her crew were also 
rescued. The damage to the Inflexible was suffi- 
ciently serious to make it very uncertain that she 
would reach port; her forward control position being 



132 THE HEROIC RECORD 

badly smashed up, her shell room and magazine in- 
jured by a mine; and many of her compartments 
rendered untenable by poisonous fumes. That she 
happily did so was chiefly due to the valour and dis- 
cipline of all on board, and perhaps particularly to 
the steadfastness of her engineer officers and engine- 
room staff. Working in semi-darkness, in stifling 
heat, and in momentary peril of death by drowning, 
the strain imposed upon them, and from which they 
emerged so well, was of the severest order. 

So ended the great attempt of the unaided navy, 
never, as it turned out, to be repeated, although the 
first intention of all responsible, both at home and 
on the spot, was to renew it. Thus, Admiral de 
Robeck, wiring an account of it, stated that the 
squadron was ready again for immediate action, 
although it would be necessary to reconsider the 
plan of attack and to find a solution of the drifting- 
mine problem. Both Lord Fisher and Sir Arthur 
Wilson, on the morning of the 19th, as well as Mr. 
Churchill himself, shared this view; and Lord Fisher 
at once ordered two more battleships to reinforce 
Admiral de Robeck, the Queen and the Implacable 
being already on their way. With equal prompti- 
tude, the French Government had ordered the Henri 
IV to replace the Bouvet. This was also the attitude 
of the War Council, who, on February 19th, wired 
to Admiral de Robeck, instructing him formally, if 
he thought fit, to continue the operations against 
the Dardanelles. 

On the other hand, Sir Ian Hamilton, telegraphing 
to Lord Kitchener, had expressed his opinion that, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 133 

from what he had seen, the Dardanelles were less 
likely to be forced by battleships alone than at one 
time had seemed probable, and that the military 
operations to ensure success would not be of the 
secondary nature hitherto suggested. To this Lord 
Kitchener replied that the Dardanelles must be 
forced, and that, if large military operations were 
necessary, they must be undertaken. Meanwhile 
Admiral de Robeck was beginning to agree with 
Sir Ian Hamilton, and on March 23d wired to the 
Admiralty that the mine menace was greater than 
had been suspected; that time would be required 
to deal with it satisfactorily, but that the Fleet would 
be ready as soon as the army; and that a decisive 
operation about the middle of April seemed to offer 
better prospects than immediate action. 

These views were the result of a conference, earlier 
in the day, between Admiral de Robeck, Sir Ian 
Hamilton, and General Birdwood, but both to Mr. 
Churchill and Lord Kitchener — and not without 
reason — this postponement seemed far too long. 
The latter at once telegraphed to Sir Ian Hamilton, 
pointing this out to him, and asking him how soon 
he could act on shore — a difficult question to answer 
in view of the facts that, only ten days before. Sir Ian 
had been in England; that he had been assisted by no 
previous staff preparation; that he had been given 
no preliminary scheme of action; that no arrange- 
ments had been made about water-supply; that the 
29th Division had not yet even sailed; and that, 
when he had left, it had been under the assumption 
that the navy itself would force the Straits. 



134 THE HEROIC RECORD 

' >■ ,. .-.^ 

On March 26tli, however, 'this last idea was finally 
abandoned as the result of a further telegram from 
Admiral de Robeck, in which he stated definitely 
that, in his opinion, and after consultation with 
General Hamilton, a combined operation was essen- 
tial to secure the objects of the campaign. To Mr. 
Churchill, who still believed that the navy, with local 
military help, might win its way through, this deci- 
sion was a great disappointment; and he was unwill- 
ing to accept it. He was anxious to order Admiral 
de Robeck to renew the naval attack according to his 
previous intention. But neither Lord Fisher, Sir 
Arthur Wilson, nor Sir Henry Jackson agreed to this. 
While the men on the spot were willing, they had 
been ready to back them up. Now that these had 
changed their minds, they refused to press them. 
Before such a weight of opinion Mr. Churchill could 
but bow, although Mr. Asquith and Mr. Balfour were 
inclined to agree with him. 

Nor were there lacking experts, who held the same 
view, both at the Admiralty and the Dardanelles. 
On the military side also, General Birdwood was for 
an immediate action with the then available forces; 
and, in view of later knowledge, this, with a further 
naval effort, might very possibly have achieved the 
desired end. For it was not until April 25th that 
Sir Ian Hamilton was ready to land his whole military 
force; and, in that month, the Peninsula of Gallipoli 
was transformed into a well-nigh impregnable ar- 
senal. 

With the purely military side of the following 
campaign this is not the place fully to deal; but some- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 135 

thing of the ordeal that was now in preparation not 
only for the soldiers but for the sailoj-s can be gath- 
ered from the memoranda, since become public, of 
German officers who were concerned in it, and who 
were fully aware, of course, of the military concentra- 
tion on the islands of Lemnos, Tenedqs, and Imbros. 
Thus, a week after the naval attack had failed. 
General Liman von Sanders took command of the 
Peninsula; began to build roads in post haste, bodies 
of Greek and Armenian workmen being brought up 
for the purpose; constructed barbed- wire defences 
at every possible landing-place, some of these being 
submerged in the shallow waters; built machine-gun 
emplacements amongst the surrounding cliffs, and 
imported heavy guns of all calibres — according to 
Enver Pasha, 200 Skoda guns were, in these four 
weeks, rushed down to the Peninsula. 

Meanwhile, owing to the defective loading of the 
British transports, these all had to be sent back again 
to Alexandria, the nearest place where there were 
facilities for a rapid re-arrangement of the troops and 
material. While this was in process, the general plan 
of attack was being considered by the naval and 
military staffs, but could not be worked out in detail 
till April 10th, when the Army Headquarters re- 
turned from Egypt — Commodore Keyes, already 
familiar to us, acting as Chief of Staff to Admiral de 
Robeck. 

Collected in the harbour of Mudros, there was now 
a veritable Armada of every kind of naval and mer- 
cantile craft — from Atlantic liners to Hull trawlers 
and from obsolete battleships to the latest marine 



136 THE HEROIC RECORD 

inventions. Between these and the shore plied 
smaller motor-boats and pinnaces on innumerable 
errands, and, by the end of the third week in April, 
all had been organized for the proposed landing. 
In view of the long delay, the magnitude of the opera- 
tions, and the neighbourhood of the assembling- 
places to their objectives, it had been wholly im- 
possible, of course, to conceal from the enemy the 
nature and scope of the impending attack. Nothing 
but sheer artillery fire, rapidity of execution, and 
human heroism could be depended upon; and, at 
only one of the landings — that at Gaba Tepe on 
the north of the Peninsula — was a surprise to be 
hoped for. 

Simultaneously with this landing, it was proposed 
to throw forces ashore at five other beaches scattered 
round the head of the Peninsula. Of these, follow- 
ing the coast westward from Gaba Tepe — about a 
dozen miles from the tip of the Peninsula — ^the next 
was Y beach, some ten miles away. South of this 
was X beach, three miles farther along and just north 
of Cape Tekeh; next came W beach round the 
corner, between Cape Tekeh and Cape Helles; then 
V beach, facing south, between Cape Helles and Sedd- 
el-Bahr; and finally S beach, round the corner again, 
in Morto Bay, just inside the entrance. 

It had also been arranged, as a "^diversion, that 
there should be a landing of French forces at Kum 
Ivale on the Asiatic shore. Each expedition was self- 
contained, the navy taking charge of the landing 
and supplying the beach-masters to superintend the 
arrangements; the covering forces were conveyed in 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 137 

battleships, from which they were to be landed in 
boats towed by naval pinnaces, the main body of the 
troops being afterward brought, up, when the land- 
ing-places had been secured, in allotted liners. In 
view of all the circumstances, it was an attempt 
without precedent, and as perilous an operation as 
could well be cQnceived. Nevertheless it was entered 
upon with the highest anticipations by every rank 
concerned. Let us consider the landings in the fore- 
going order, beginning with that at Gaba Tepe in 
what was afterward to be known as Anzac Cove. 

In charge of this was Rear-Admiral C. F. Thursby, 
who had under his command the following five 
battleships, the Queen, London, and Prince of Wales, 
each carrying some 500 troops; and the Triumph and 
Majestic, which were to cover the landing with gunfire. 
With them were the cruisers Bacchante and eight 
destroyers, some of the latter also carrying troops, 
the seaplane ship Ark Royal, a balloon ship, and 
fifteen trawlers. All through the morning of the 
24th, the transports had been getting into position, 
and the exodus from the harbour began in the after- 
noon, the skies being clear and the sea calm. Pres- 
ently the various squadrons passed ahead of the 
transports, and these, with their attendant troop- 
ships, separated for their appointed stations — ^the 
cheers from the shore dying behind them as they 
moved out to the open sea. 

Each had its rendezvous off the Peninsula coast, 
that of Admiral Thursby's squadron being about five 
miles distant from it; and this was reached in the 
first hour of Sunday morning under a bright but 



138 THE HEROIC RECORD 

setting half-moon. Since the fall of dusk the night 
before, the squadron had been steaming with lights 
out, and the crowded troops had been doing their 
best to snatch a little sleep before they would be 
called upon. The boats and steam pinnaces had 
already been slung out, and now the signal was given 
for them to be lowered — each boat, in charge of a 
midshipman, and each pinnace towing three boats. 

Twelve in all of these little processions were si- 
lently marshalled under the sides of the battleshipsj 
the moon having sunk now, and shore and sea living 
in the darkness before dawn. Battleships and pin- 
naces, with the boats streaming out behind them, 
then drew very slowly into shore, the battleships, 
cleared for action, stopping about a mile and a half 
out. There was to be no preliminary bombardment, 
since it was hoped — though none too confidently — 
to surprise the enemy; and, from this point, therefore, 
the pinnaces with the landing-parties crept toward 
the shore in absolute stillness. They had almost 
reached it, racing against the dawn, when the de- 
stroyers, with their additional troops, slid between the 
battleships; and it was then that a sudden alarm 
light — ^just before five o'clock — showed the Turks 
to have discovered their presence. Three minutes 
later, the boats being then in shallow water, a mur- 
derous rifle and machine-gun fire broke upon the 
beach, nothing being visible but the flashes from the 
guns above an entrenchment almost on the shore 
itself. 

It was a critical moment, many men being hit at 
once, but the rest, tumbling out of the boats, dashed 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 139 

ashore, made for the enemy in true Austr^ian 
style, and, within less than ten minutes, had taken 
the trench. Afterward it was discovered that the 
landing had taken place a little to the east of the 
chosen spot; and the troops, having rushed the 
beach, found themselves in consequence faced by a 
steep and shrub-covered line of cliffs. But there 
was more cover here, although the enemy was firing 
down on them from the second line of trenches half- 
way up; and, having paused for a moment to take 
breath, shed their packs, and charge their magazines, 
they went for the cliffs and carried them, and, an 
hour later, had established a definite line along the 
ridge. 

Meanwhile the rest of the covering troops had 
been landed, the whole being ashore within half an 
hour; and already the wounded were being evacuated, 
the two services going on together. It was now 
growing light, and, though the battleships came into 
action, the casualties on the beach grew more numer- 
ous. The trenches had been cleared, but, in the 
thick brushwood, the enemy marksmen found an 
ideal cover; and, as the day broadened, a couple of 
batteries, admirably concealed, opened fire. For 
many hours the battleships failed to locate them, and, 
all that time, under a hail of shrapnel, beach-masters, 
midshipmen, and seamen had to carry out their 
duties. For the actual troops it was less of an 
ordeal, since they could bolt across to the cover of 
the cliffs, but for the navy, marshalling the boats 
and moving them to and fro, there was no such 
respite. Owing to the heavy fire, too, both from 



140 THE HEUOIC RECORD 

the howitzers inland and warships in the Narrows 
on the other side, the loaded transports had to stand 
farther from the shore, thus at once increasing and 
delaying the work. Without a moment's pause, 
however, it went forward, men, stores, and munitions 
being punctually landed; General Bird wood and his 
staff went ashore in the afternoon; and, before even- 
ing, roads were actually being built inland. All 
through the next day, the great movement went on, 
in spite of fierce counter-attacks by the reinforced 
Turks; and, by the nightfall of April 26th, the posi- 
tion at Gaba Tepe was secure. 

Though five in number, the remaining landing- 
places were grouped within six miles round the point 
of the Peninsula; and the naval forces responsible 
for them were under the command of Rear-Admiral 
Rosslyn E. Wemyss. They consisted of the seven 
battleships. Lord Nelson, Prince George, Cornwallis, 
Implacable, Swiftsure, Albion, and Vengeance; of the 
four cruisers, Euryalus, Talbot, Minerva, and Dublin; 
of six sweepers and fourteen trawlers. Allotted to 
Y beach as the first covering troops were the King's 
Own Scottish Borderers, and they sailed from Mudros 
in the cruisers Amethyst and Sapphire. It had not 
been possible to effect a surprise here; and conse- 
quently, as the boats approached the beach, it was 
under a protective screen of fire from the battleship 
Goliath. So effective was this, and so promptly were 
the covering troops thrown ashore that they reached 
the top of the high surrounding cliffs practically 
without opposition. 

Following a second detachment of the Borderers 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 141 

came the Plymouth Battalion of the Royal Naval 
Division, the troops establishing themselves on the 
top of the cliffs, and trying to join hands with those 
landing at X beach. Unfortunately, between them 
there were strong hostile forces. They themselves 
were heavily and ceaselessly attacked; and, after 
twenty-four hours' fighting, it was decided to with- 
draw them — or rather what was left of them — under 
the fire of the battleships, the Amethyst and Sapphire, 
Goliathy Talbot, and Dublin undertaking their re- 
embarkation, ably supervised by Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Adrian St. V. Keyes. Thus, by the evening 
of the 26th, while Gaba Tepe had been secured, 
beach Y had had to be abandoned. 

The action at beach X, however, just north of 
Cape Tekeh, had met with better results. Here the 
troops detailed to make the first landing had been 
two companies and a machine-gun section of the 
Second Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and they 
had been embarked in the battleship Implacable. 
The beach before them was a narrow one, about two 
hundred yards long, but the cliffs beyond it were not 
high, and their ultimate objective was a hill that lay 
to the rear of the landing-places, round the corner, 
at W and V. Covered by the Implacable, who came 
close inshore, the troops landed with scarcely any 
casualties; and, though they did not succeed, owing 
to a very fierce counter-attack, in obtaining complete 
possession of the desired hill, they had, by the even- 
ing, with the aid of their supports, entrenched them- 
selves for half a mile round their landing-place, be- 
sides having already joined hands, earlier in the day. 



142 THE HEROIC RECORD 

with the Lancashire Fusiliers who had advanced 
from Beach W. 

This lay between Cape Tekeh and Cape Helles at 
the extreme end of the Peninsula, and was some 
three hundred and fifty yards long and from fifteen 
to forty yards deep. Flanked on each side by pre- 
cipitous cliffs, the land in front rose less steeply, 
climbing in a series of low sand-hills to the ridge that 
lay beyond. It had been an obvious landing-place, 
however, and had, in consequence, been fortified with 
the utmost care. Not only had the water in front 
of it been mined but also the shore itself. Submerged 
entanglements covered the approach to it, and a 
jungle of barbed wire protected the sea's edge. The 
surrounding cliffs were heavily trenched and honey- 
combed with nests of machine-guns. The ridge 
itself, even should it be gained, was commanded on 
both sides by higher ground still. 

To take this position, than which nothing could 
well have been stronger, fell to the First Battalion 
of the Lancashire Fusiliers, who had been conveyed 
to their rendezvous by the Euryalus and Implacable, 
from which they had embarked, at four o'clock in 
the morning, into the small boats. An hour later, 
and while these were approaching the shore — ^there 
had been eight picket-boats, each towing four cutters 
— the Euryalus followed them up and poured a heavy 
fire into the trenches. Farther out at sea, other units 
of the squadron supported the bombardment with 
guns of all calibres, but without doing much damage 
to the well-designed trenches and scarcely any to the 
beach entanglements. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 143 

Hung up by the wire or staked under water, an 
easy mark for rifle and machine-gun, men fell so 
thickly that, for a few minutes, it seemed as if indeed 
their task were a hopeless one. But they were not 
to be denied; hacking at the wire, as one man fell, 
another succeeded him; while, upon the extreme 
left, where it was just possible to effect a landing 
upon some rocks a detachment climbed ashore, and, 
with great skill, put out of action some enfilading 
maxims. ' Thus supported, their comrades made a 
little headway; and, once having gained a footing, 
never stopped. By ten o'clock, three of the enemy's 
trenches had been taken; and, by half -past eleven, 
they were in touch with the X landing-party. The 
actual beach was now secured, although the general 
position was still hazardous, and remained so until 
the next afternoon, when the landing at beach V had 
been consolidated. Throughout the whole time, in 
a widening semi-circle, a fierce infantry action was in 
progress; but, though the shore was under fire, thanks 
to the expedition and coolness of the beach-masters. 
Captain Townsend and Commander Collard, and 
the courage of all concerned, the remaining troops 
were safely landed. 

Terrible as were the conditions, however, at beach 
X, those at beach V were even more so; and it was 
here that the self-sacrifice demanded of navy and 
army alike reached its sublimest level. We have said 
that no stronger defensive position than that of beach 
W could well be imagined; but that of beach V pre- 
sented a problem that, in certain respects, was even 
more difficult. Of about the same size and much the 



144 THE HEROIC RECORD 

same formation, it was more strongly flanked on 
either side — by sheer cliffs on the west and by the 
village and Fort of Sedd-el-Bahr on the east; while 
brooding above it, in the centre, as above the am- 
phitheatre of a circus, stood the battered ruins of the 
old barracks, a perfect cover for sharpshooters and 
maxims. 

Here, as at beach W, there were dense wire barri- 
cades, and the high ground between had been simi- 
larly fortified. Nor was it possible here, as it had 
been for the Lancashire Fusiliers, to land even the 
smallest detachment on the flanks. A frontal assault 
was the only possible one, and accordingly special 
measures had been taken. As in all the other cases, 
the first landing-parties were to be towed ashore in 
small open boats, but the remainder of the cover- 
ing troops, about 2,000 strong, was to be landed from 
a larger vessel designed for the purpose. This was 
the converted collier, the River Clyde, in charge of 
Commander Edward Unwin, and large doorways had 
been cut in her sides to enable the contained troops 
to pour out rapidly. As soon as the first boats had 
made good th^ir landing, the River Clyde was to be 
run ashore, and a string of lighters pushed out from 
her side to form a bridge for the emerging soldiers. 
Mounted in her bows, and protected by sandbags, 
were several machine-guns to cover the operation. 

The troops to whom had been assigned this, the 
most dangerous of all the day's undertakings, were 
the Dublin Fusiliers, of whom three companies were 
to land from the open boats, the remainder coming 
ashore from the River Clyde with the Munsters, 



OP THE BRITISH NAVY 145 

Hampshires, and other forces. Here also, as the col- 
Her and boats drew in, the battleships in the rear 
maintained a tremendous bombardment, but here, 
too, the effect on the defences was so slight as to be 
negligible. Till the boats actually touched shore, 
the Turks reserved their fire and then opened simul- 
taneously with devastating results. In several of the 
boats there was not a single man who escaped either 
death or disablement. One of the boats disappeared 
altogether; another contained only two survivors. 
Of the few who scrambled ashore alive, some were 
killed on the wire, others fell on the sands half-way 
up the beach; and but a small handful managed to 
reach a little ridge, some four feet high, under which 
they took shelter. 

For the boats to return again was impossible; that 
any were beached at all was almost a miracle; and 
nothing has ever excelled the heroic determination of 
those responsible for navigating them. With dead 
and wounded men lying about them, themselves 
with but a moment or two to live, they plied their 
oars or gave their orders under that withering storm 
of lead and shrapnel. Such was Able Seaman Levi 
Jacobs of the Lord Nelson, who, after the whole of 
his comrades had been killed or wounded, took in his 
boat unaided and, when last seen, was standing up 
alone, trying to pole the cutter into shore. 

Even more costly was the first attempt to land the 
troops from the River Clyde, though it justified its 
existence as a harbour of refuge and was the eventual 
means of carrying the beach. Commander Unwin 
had succeeded in grounding her almost simultane- 



146 THE HEROIC RECORD 

ously with the boats, and the lighters were run out 
through a tornado of fire, but failed unfortunately 
to reach the shore. This was chiefly due to the 
strong current and the almost instant slaughter of 
those at work on them. Time was the essence of 
the contract, however; every second counted; and 
already the first of the Munsters were pouring out 
of the ship. While willing hands fought with the 
lighters, they leapt, swam, and waded to the shore, 
some being drowned by the weight of their equip- 
ment, others shot to pieces by the enemy, and again 
but a handful reached the precarious cover of the 
same little parapet that was sheltering their com- 
rades. Then the lighters were fastened up again; 
other troops began to rush them; and once more the 
pier broke down, the shoremost lighter swinging 
round with the current and shutting off the troops 
that stood behind it. 

Now was the enemy's opportunity, and he made 
the most of it; the officers on the lighters shouted to 
their men to lie down, but, even so, half had already 
fallen, and many more were shot where they lay. It 
was in these circumstances that Commander Unwin 
himself set the most magnificent example of conduct. 
Leaving the River Clyde, he made for the lighters, 
and, standing waist-deep in the bullet-lashed water, 
he worked indefatigably to repair the bridge and 
secure the lighter against the thrust of the current. 
With him was Midshipman G. L. Drewry, who, 
after being wounded in the head, twice attempted to 
swim from lighter to lighter with a line. Failing to 
do so owing to exhaustion. Midshipman W. St. A. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 147 

Mallesou then took up the task, succeeded, and, when 
the line broke again, made two further, but this time 
unsuccessful, efforts to repair it. No less gallant 
were A. B. Williams and Seaman G. M'K. Samson, 
the latter working on a lighter the whole day, until 
he was dangerously wounded, and the former, until 
he was killed, holding on to a line in the water, under 
the heaviest fire, for over an hour. Commander 
Unwin himself, almost frozen, had to return to the 
Clyde, where he was wrapped up in blankets, leaving 
the ship a second time to work at the lighters till he 
was injured in three places, and a third time, after 
he had been dressed, to save some wounded men lying 
at the water's edge. 

It had become clear by this time, however, that on 
the present lines, at any rate, the disembarkation 
could not proceed. Of the thousand men who had 
left the collier, half were dead or wounded, but for- 
tunately the remainder were comparatively safe. 
Meanwhile the machine-gunners in her bow, as well 
as the ships at sea, kept up an incessant fusillade, 
both to protect the survivors under the sandbank, 
and to prevent a counter-attack by the enemy. 
Earlier in the day, the Albion, seeing the River Clyde's 
predicament, had called for volunteers to go to her 
help, and a pinnace and launch had been manned 
to assist in completing the bridge of boats. Owing 
to the murderous fire, however, it had been impossible 
to get into position; and it was not till dark that the 
work was finally completed, when the rest of the 
troops were at last able, though not without many 
casualties, to go ashore. 



148 THE HEROIC RECORD 

It was now essential to occupy the village, or rather 
the ruins, of Sedd-el-Bahr on the right; and, all 
through the night, fierce but unsuccessful efforts were 
made to this end by the tired troops. On the morn- 
ing of the 26th, however, thanks to the heavy fire of 
the Albion inshore and other vessels farther out, a 
determined onslaught, heroically organized by Lieu- 
tenant-Colonels Doughty- Wylie and Williams, gained 
possession of it; and, by half -past one, the old Castle 
and its surrounding heights had been secured. 

Two subsidiary landings had also taken place, one 
at what was known as the Camber, a little to the east 
of V beach, and near the village of Sedd-el-Bahr. 
Here a half company of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers 
had been landed to make an attack on the village, 
but, owing to the narrowness of the approach, they 
were able to make no advance, and had to withdraw 
after heavy losses. Finally, at S beach in Morto 
Bay, covered by the Cornwallis and Lord Nelson, the 
2nd South Wales Borderers and a detachment of the 
2nd London Field Company of the Royal Engineers 
— about 750 men in all — were successfully landed, 
largely due to the ability of Lieutenant-Commander 
Ralph B. Janvrin, who was in charge of the trawlers 
that brought them ashore. They suffered but few 
casualties, consolidated themselves in their assigned 
positions, and held these till April 27th, when they 
were joined by the general advance. Equally suc- 
cessful, in respect of its transport arrangements, was 
the French diversion at Kum Kale, the whole force 
being landed during the 25th. On the 26th, how- 
ever, after they had beaten off many counter-attacks, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 149 

and taken over 400 Turkish prisoners, it became clear 
that they could only advance at a heavy cost and 
after fresh reinforcements; and it wjsis decided to 
reembark them, this being effected without serious 
opposition. 

So was obtained that footing upon Gallipoli, never, 
alas, to ripen into a complete conquest, but yet an 
achievement without parallel in the naval and mili- 
tary records of the world. Of the second great land- 
ing at Suvla Bay, four miles north of Anzac Cove, on 
August 7th, all that can be said here is that, before 
breakfast-time, two divisions were firmly established, 
and that once again, in Sir Ian Hamilton's words, the 
navy played father and mother to the army. Let a 
few brief facts, therefore, complete the picture of all 
that the seamen stood for at Gallipoli. 

Between its base at Alexandria, 600 miles distant, 
and its front-line trenches, the army had but two 
harbours — Kephalos Bay on the Island of Imbros, 
about fifteen miles from the Peninsula, and the Bay 
of Mudros on Lemnos some four times as distant. 
When the expedition started, in neither of these 
harbours were there any conveniences whatsoever. 
Wharves and breakwaters, piers and storehouses, all 
were totally lacking. On the Peninsula itself, as we 
have seen, each of the landing-places was an open 
beach. Each was exposed, throughout the whole oc- 
cupation, to registered and observed artillery fire. 
At two of the most important of them — Suvla and 
Anzac — only lighters and tugs could be used for dis- 
embarkation; two trans-shipments were thus always 
necessitated; and nothing could be landed except 



150 THE HEROIC RECORD 

by night. All were peculiarly exposed to the 
weather, as were also the harbours on Imbros and 
Lemnos; and, in addition to this, after the month of 
May, there was the ever-present menace of hostile 
submarines. 

Nevertheless the army was well maintained in 
food, equipment, and munitions; it received its full 
supply of winter clothing at the beginning of Decem- 
ber; the sick and wounded were punctually removed; 
and letters and mails were regularly delivered. So 
also in the final act, in the amazing evacuation, so 
swiftly and bloodlessly carried out, the navy received 
to its arms again and silently transferred the last man 
of those war-worn legions. 

Of the statesmen and strategists responsible for the 
general campaign, judgments may well differ, though 
they should be lenient — every issue being so vitally 
involved with issues as large all the world over. But 
of the hewers of wood and drawers of water, of the 
human instruments of their policy, there can be no 
doubt in any man's mind, however unfamiliar with 
the tasks allotted to them. Not even the gods on 
Mount Ida ever looked down upon finer men. 



CHAPTER VII 

SUB-MAEINERS OF ENGLAND 

Before us rocked the minefields. 

Behind us flew the planes. 

The swift destroyers chased us 

Down the long sea lanes. 

The stealthy currents fought us. 

And, everywhere we went. 

Crept Death, a little finger's breadth. 

Beside us on the scent. 

IINED with forts that defied the bombardment 
of our largest naval guns; protected by mine- 
-^ fields that taxed the resources of our most 
intrepid fleets of sweepers; endowed by nature with 
an opposing current against which our destroyers, 
during some of the winter storms, were only able to 
maintain their stations by steaming ten knots ahead, 
the Dardanelles, guarding the Sea of Marmora, might 
well have seemed secure against our submarines. 
How little they were really so, was, however, made 
clear by Mr. Asquith in his summary of their achieve- 
ments up to the end of October, 1915 — a couple of 
months before the evacuation of the Peninsula and 
our withdrawal from the campaign. Up to that time 
it appeared, that, between them, they had sunk or 
damaged two Turkish battleships, five gunboats, one 
torpedo-boat, eight transports, and no less than 197 

151 



152 THE HEROIC RECORD 

supply-ships of all kinds — an amazing record in view 
of the geographical advantages that had been be- 
stowed upon the defence. 

Where all were heroes, in the best sense of the word, 
carrying their lives in their hands on each trip, and 
where the unsuccessful, in defining the obstacles that 
baffled them, contributed almost equally to the gen- 
eral results, it is a thankless task, though the only 
possible one, to select particular units for our purr- 
pose. Just as in the Baltic, however, the two out- 
standing figures were Commander Horton and Cap- 
tain Cromie, so in the Dardanelles the names that 
naturally emerge are those of Lieutenant-Comman- 
der Holbrook, Lieutenant-Commander Nasmith, and 
Lieutenant Guy D'Oyly Hughes; and it is to the 
adventures of these officers, as typical of their service, 
that we must confine our attention. 

It was on Sunday, December IS, 1914, that 
Lieutenant-Commander Norman Holbrook, in the 
submarine Bll, first demonstrated to Turkey and the 
world that the Dardanelles were navigable for British 
submarines; and, as a pioneer feat, it probably 
remains unequalled by any individual enterprise of 
the war. Then about twenty-six, Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Holbrook had been in command of the Bll 
for a year, the submarine herself, one of an early type, 
being part of the Malta Flotilla, and, at the time of 
this exploit, already eight years old. Her speed 
above the surface was no more than 13 knots; and, 
when submerged, she could only travel 9 — the 
mere navigation of the Dardanelles, under such cir- 
cumstances, being in itself a remarkable achievement. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 153 

It was three o'clock in the morning that the Bll 
left her base for the entrance to the Dardanelles, and 
no Elizabethan captain ever put to sea on a more 
perilous undertaking than that which faced the crew, 
less than a score, of the J511 in that December dark- 
ness. They reached the entrance, however, unob- 
served, took their bearings with the current stream- 
ing past them, and then submerged to sixty feet, and 
began their blindfold journey toward the minefields. 
Here they had to rely entirely on their electric motors 
capable of about 190 horse-power; and so, for hour 
after hour, they felt their way beneath the five rows 
of mines that were known to be guarding the Straits, 
and, when at last they rose again, a little before noon, 
it was to find themselves bathed in broad daylight, 
and to discover to their delight, well within reach, the 
Turkish battleship Messudiyeh. 

Still unnoticed, they submerged immediately, 
charged the firing-tank, flooded the torpedo-tube, 
and stood by to fire. Now was the critical moment 
— not of the journey, perhaps, but to demonstrate 
beyond question that it had been successfully accom- 
plished. The B\l crept up again to within fifteen 
feet. There was a fraction of a pause, and the tor- 
pedo was launched. This meant her discovery, of 
course, and, had not the torpedo gone home, a second 
chance could hardly have been expected. But it 
was a good shot, followed by a loud explosion, and a 
cautious peep through the periscope showed the 
Messudiyeh, completely surprised, to be sinking by 
her stern. 

Built by the Thames Iron Works Company in 



154 THE HEROIC RECORD 

1874, she was of no great value as a battleship; and, 
although she had been reconstructed in Genoa in 
1902, and carried two 9.2-inch guns besides a second- 
ary armament, she was not in any sense a serious 
opponent, and her maximum speed was but 16 
knots. But she was one of the only three battleships 
in the Turkish Navy; she carried a crew of 600 and 
was guarding the minefields; and the moral effect 
of her loss in so dramatic a fashion was profound. 
But a few years before, and this journey of Lieuten- 
ant-Commander Holbrook's would have seemed but 
the vain imagining of a novelist. Now it was a 
fact, and a fact that could be repeated, as others of 
his colleagues were to demonstrate. 

Meanwhile the alarm had been given. The bat- 
teries on either side had opened fire and shells were 
beginning to plunge in all directions; and the Bll 
modestly sought concealment. With torpedo-boats 
quartering the surface, she dropped into darkness 
again, and then, for a horrible moment or two, it 
seemed that her end had come. At a depth of thirty 
feet there came an ominous shock; for ten minutes, 
she grated along a bed of shingle; but her good luck 
held, and she slid at last undamaged into the deep 
channel that she had been looking for. So the return 
journey began; the five rows of mines were once more 
successfully passed; at a depth of sixty feet, she drew 
level with Cape Helles, and then, after nine hours 
below, she came to the surface again. Thus ended a 
voyage hitherto unequalled in the submarine records 
of any navy, and one that secured for Lieutenant- 
Commander Holbrook the first Victoria Cross 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 155 

awarded to a naval oflScer since the beginning of the 
war. ; 

Lieutenant-Commander Holbrook was a pioneer 
and his vessel was a comparatively old one, but 
scarcely less thrilling and, from the purely mate- 
rial standpoint, considerably more fruitful, was the 
voyageundertaken, about six months later, by Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Nasmith in the £11. Leaving 
Imbros at three o'clock one summer morning, he 
set out for the Dardanelles, dived at daybreak, and 
pushed his way, as Holbrook had done, beneath the 
defences of the Narrows. Emerging on the other 
side of these, he rose to the surface and saw a couple 
of battleships within range. By this time, however, 
the standard of vigilance above the Narrows had 
been very considerably raised; and, before Ell could 
discharge any of her torpedoes, her presence was dis- 
covered, and the ships escaped. 

They opened fire as they did so, thus giving the 
general alarm, and the Ell accordingly submerged 
for the rest of the 'afternoon, not showing her peri- 
scope again till dusk, when she apparently had the 
sea to herself. She then proceeded, in naval phrase, 
into the Sea of Marmora at her leisure, but for a few 
days was unable to get in touch with any enemy 
craft. Not satisfied with this, she then made her 
way to the neighbourhood of Constantinople, where, 
on Sunday morning, she sighted and sank a big 
Turkish gunboat. This vessel went down in five 
minutes, but must have contained a gunner of some 
merit, since, before disappearing, she opened fire and 
with her second shot hit the Ell's periscope. 



156 THE HEROIC RECORD 

This was soon repaired, however, and the next day 
she sighted a steamer and told her to stop. An 
officer and two men were sent aboard her, where they 
found a 6-ineh gun, numerous gun-mountings, and 
some 15-inch ammunition; and accordingly, after the 
crew had taken to the boats, this vessel was also 
sent to the bottom. Hardly had she vanished when 
another steamer was sighted and, refusing to stop, 
chased into harbour, where she was torpedoed in 
the very act of making herself safe alongside a pier. 
A little later, yet a third vessel was seen and also 
chased to the shore; and then there ensued one of 
the strangest little actions that had been fought 
during the course of the war. For, at that moment, 
a body of Turkish cavalry came galloping up to 
defend the ship, and opened fire on the submarine, 
just as a boarding-party was about to leave her. 
For a few minutes, a duel followed between the Ell 
and the horsemen on shore, some of the latter being 
dropped from their saddles before the submarine 
dived and torpedoed the ship. 

Monday had been a busy day, but on Tuesday 
Lieutenant-Commander Nasmith decided to enter 
Constantinople. In this he was successful, and, 
having made the harbour, torpedoed and sank a 
transport loaded with troops, exploding a second 
torpedo upon the shore, and creating a very consider- 
able local panic. From Tuesday to Friday time 
passed uneventfully, but, on Friday morning, a 
convoy was sighted, consisting of five transports 
escorted by destroyers. Selecting the first and big- 
gest, this was torpedoed, sinking in less than three 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 157 

minutes, the others escaping, and the Ell success- 
fully evading the destroyers. Three more of these 
transports, as well as a supply-ship, were sunk a day 
or two afterward, and, a few days later, yet another 
transport was torpedoed, and a last one, on the way 
home, was sunk just before entering the Narrows. 

With a round dozen vessels to her credit, the Ell 
then dived beneath the minefields, and might well 
have been thought to have had sufficient adventures 
for one small vessel in a single trip. But there was 
another in store for her that might readily have been 
her last for, when she came to the surface again that 
evening, it was to discover a mine, like a piece of 
seaweed, hanging over her bows and caressing her 
side. It was a perilous moment, but, in the words 
of one of her crew, the mine was "chucked" off as 
speedily as possible, and the £^11 safely received into 
the waiting arms of her escort. For this voyage 
Lieutenant-Commander Nasmith also received the 
Victoria Cross, and every member of his crew the 
Distinguished Service Medal. 

This was a great record, but it was closely pressed 
by many of her colleagues, notably the £J14; and we 
find her in the Sea of Marmora again in August doing 
her best to sustain it. This time her voyage was 
made conspicuous by an extraordinarily daring 
journey on the part of her second in command, 
Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes, who had already been 
decorated for his services in the earlier raid just 
recorded. His object was, if possible, to destroy 
a viaduct over which passed the Ismid Railway, 
skirting the coast; and, with this in view, on the night 



158 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of August 21st, he left the submarine, about sixty 
yards from the shore. In readiness for his attempt, 
a raft had been prepared, on which were carefully 
packed his charge of explosives, his clothes, a revol- 
ver, a sharpened bayonet, an electric torch, and a 
whistle. 

Dropping into the water, he pushed this before 
him, and swam warily to the shore, but found him- 
self unable, at his first point of landing, to scale the 
cliffs thatwere here very precipitous. Accordingly he 
pushed out his raft again, and swam along the coast 
until a more promising ascent revealed itself, where 
he dressed, loaded himself with his charge, and, 
after a very steep'climb, reached the top of the cliffs. 
Half an hour later, making his way inland, he came 
upon the line of the railw^ay, and then, carrying his 
charge, began to creep quietly along it in the direction 
of the viaduct. 

This he did for about a quarter of a mile, when he 
suddenly heard voices ahead of him, and presently 
saw three men sitting by the side of the railway, 
talking together loudly, and evidently quite oblivious 
of him. Crouching in the darkness, he watched them 
for some little time, and then decided to leave his 
heavy charge where it was, and, after havmg made a 
wide detour inland, inspect the viaduct and see how 
it was guarded. 

Having marked the spot, therefore, where he had 
concealed his charge, he struck away from the railway 
into the unknown country beyond, and here he very 
nearly came to disaster, owing to an unlucky stumble 
into a small farmyard. The poultry scuttered about 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 159 

calling, but happily without rousing the family, from 
whose undisturbed dreams it would surely be true 
to say that nothing could have been remoter than 
the vision of a British naval lieutenant, cursing under 
his breath, in the middle of their fowl-run. He was 
soon well away from this, and not very long after- 
ward was within three hundred yards of the viaduct, 
where it soon became clear that there was very little 
prospect of his being able to secrete and fire his 
charge. At the end of it nearest to him, he could see 
a bright fire burning and the figures of several men 
moving to and fro, while the panting of an engine 
could be heard through the night, either on the via- 
duct itself or just beyond it. 

There was nothing for it, therefore, but to make 
his way back to the place where he had hidden his 
explosive, and to find as suitable a spot in which to 
discharge it as the circumstances would allow. After 
a further search, he discovered a low brickwork sup- 
port, carrying the line over a small hollow, [and it 
was beneath this that he finally decided to place and 
explode his charge. Unfortunately the three men, 
whom he had first seen, were still sitting chatting by 
the line, and the spot selected was no more than one 
hundred and fifty yards away from them.^ 

There was no other place, however, where so much 
damage could be done, and muffling up the fuse pistol 
with a rag, he discharged it. But the night was so 
still and the men were so near that for them to hear 
the report had been inevitable. Instantly they were 
on their feet and running down the line, and there 
was nothing for it but to take to his heels, the three 



160 THE HEROIC RECORD 

men following at tlie top of their speed, a couple of 
revolver shots failing to check them. They too fired, 
but ineffectively, and the chase went on for about 
a mile, Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes deciding that it 
was impossible to try and return the way he had 
come, and making down the line till he came to a 
place where it ran out beside the sea. 

Just as he reached this, he had the satisfaction of 
hearing a loud explosion in the darkness behind him, 
some of the debris falling into the water, nearly half 
a mile away, close to the waiting submarine. But 
there was not a moment to be lost, and, fully dressed, 
Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes plunged from the shore 
and swam as fast as he could for about a quarter 
of a mile straight out to sea. There he blew his 
w^histle, but was unheard by the watchers on the 
submarine, this latter being behind a bend in the 
cliffs. Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes therefore swam 
back to the shore again, and, after having rested for 
a few moments, decided that there was no other 
course open to him than to swim round this bend. 
Day was already nearing, and, time being imperative, 
he threw away his pistol, bayonet, and electric torch; 
and it was not until he had rounded the last point 
that his whistle was heard by the watchers on the 
Ell. But others had heard it, too, and, from the 
top of the cliffs above him, there began to float down 
shouts and the reports of rifle shots. Owing to a 
trick of the morning mist, too, the emerging sub- 
marine appeared to him at first to be three separate 
rowing-boats — the bow, the conning-tower, and the 
gun being responsible for this illusion. Once again, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 161 

therefore, he took to the shore with the intention of 
hiding under the diffs, when, after dimbing out of 
the water, he saw his mistake and shouted and sig- 
nalled to his comrades. Eventually he was picked 
up by them forty yards out, almost on the point of 
exhaustion, and having swum, after no mean exer- 
tions ashore, nearly a mile in his clothes. 

While the British submarines and their oflScers 
and crews were thus making themselves at home in 
the Sea of Marmora, a campaign as daring had al- 
ready been begun in the similar enclosed area of the 
Baltic, Commander Max Horton in the E9 being in 
this case the pioneer. This officer had already ac- 
counted for a couple of German men-of-war, the 
light cruiser Hela sunk in the previous September, 
and the destroyer Sl^Q put down three weeks later. 
It was early on a fine Sunday morning that the £8 
had sighted the Hela about six miles south of Heligo- 
land. Two torpedoes were launched, and about half 
a minute after the second was despatched, the 
listeners on board E9 had heard an explosion telling 
them that one at any rate had got home. A quarter 
of an hour later, the E9 had emerged again to see the 
Hela listing heavily and apparently beyond hope of 
redemption; and, when she had next come to the 
surface, it was to find the cruiser gone and her first 
German warship to her credit. The destroyer had 
been sunk three weeks later, near the mouth of the 
Ems River and under the very guns of Borkum, 

Such was the record of Commander Max Horton 
before he made his way into the Baltic in the follow- 
ing year, and began to operate there almost at the 



162 THE HEROIC RECORD 

same time as his colleagues established their mastery 
in the Sea of Marmora; and he was worthily suc- 
ceeded by Francis Cromie, than whose personal story 
the war produced no stranger. Entering the Baltic 
in the summer of 1915, as a lieutenant-commander 
in the submarine E19, to die three years later, as an 
acting captain, in the most tragic of circumstances 
at Petrograd, few men can have played, in so short 
a time, such a bewildering variety of parts. 

Having arrived in the Baltic, his first task was to 
combat as far as possible the importation into Ger- 
many of ore from the Swedish mines. To this end 
he organized, therefore, and he was the first to or- 
ganize, a definite and coordinated plan of campaign; 
and this soon bore visible fruits, not only in the 
number of vessels sunk, but in the precautions forced 
upon the enemy. Within a few days, in the early 
autumn, no less than ten of these vessels were put out 
of action, the majority being total losses. Amongst 
the victims were the Lulfa, Nicomedia, Gutrune, and 
Pernamhuco — all vessels over 3,000 tons; while, 
a few days afterward, five German transports were 
torpedoed and sunk, and a sixth forced to run 
aground. Of these no less than ten were the actual 
victims of Lieutenant-Commander Cromie himself 
in the E19, 

His most notable feat in this year, however, was 
the sinking of the German cruiser Undine, which was 
engaged with some destroyers in protecting a train- 
ferry upon which Lieutenant-Commander Cromie 
had designs. Of the general spirit in which not only 
thi^ particular expedition, but all his work was under- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 163 

taken, something can be gathered from a letter to 
his mother in which he describes his adventures as 
follows : " We did another fifteen hundred miles," he 
wrote, "this last trip. I went to bed for the first 
two days out with *flue,' and so directed operations 
from my bunk. We met a German submarine and 
had to dive in a hurry, and found ourselves down at 
140 feet, before I could get out of bed to take charge. 
The third day we found a lot of 'wood' outside 
neutral waters, and, after a short chase, we made a 
lovely bonfire, being unable to sink the stuff. The 
'inhabitants' left hurriedly, leaving a small puppy 
dog, which we rescued. Its father was a Great Dane, 
and its mother a pug, but considering it is a *Huii* 
it is not half bad, and is a great favourite. Nothing 
travels by daylight since our last raid on the * hen- 
run'; so my special haunt was very dull, and I gave 
it up after four days, and tried another spot where 
I knew train-ferries must pass. We had an exciting 
chase, but it was spoilt by two destroyers and a 
cruiser turning up. Guessing that they would 
come back again I lay low, and, sure enough, I 
caught the Undine in the afternoon. The first shot 
stopped her and put her on fire, but she was not 
going down quickly enough, so, avoiding the de- 
stroyer who was after us, I dived under the Undine's 
stern and gave her another from the other side, . . . 
We arrived in covered with ice." 

Technically an expert of the highest order, modest 
and courageous, he was idolized by his men, and his 
conduct when once, off the port of Memel, the pro- 
pellers of his submarine became caught in some 



164 THE HEROIC RECORD 

German nets, would have afPorded ample reason for 
this, even had it not been an expression of a character 
already well known to them. Whether or no he had 
been taking a legitimate risk, for the predicament in 
which they found themselves, he instantly took the 
full blame. For several hours, they had tried in vain 
to free themselves, and it looked as if at last they 
had been outwitted. Calling his crew together, he 
frankly confessed to them that he had taken them 
into thi^ trap and that he saw no way out. His 
intention was, therefore, if the worst should come 
to the worst, to rise to the surface and give them a 
chance for their lives, he himself remaining below 
to blow up the vessel and save it from capture. 
Happily, by a last skilful and well-planned manoeuvre, 
he succeeded in freeing the propellers from the en- 
tanglement, and the ^19 was once more at liberty, 
having never been nearer death, to continue her 
career. 

It was not only as a submarine commander of the 
first quality, however, that Cromie was unobtrusively 
making his mark, but as an organizer and adminis- 
trator in charge of his flotilla through a period of 
ever-increasing difficulty. Busy, as he was, arrang- 
ing for repairs and supplies, and safeguarding the 
moral of his men in strange and remote surroundings, 
he found or made time to learn the Russian language, 
with results quite impossible to over-estimate. By 
the end of 1916, he had acquired — let us rather say 
there had come to him — a reputation extending far 
beyond the little technical world of the British sub- 
marine contingent. For patent efficiency, complete 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 165 

Lionesty, and entire fearlessness, there are no inter- 
national boundaries; and in Cromie there were added 
to these a very remarkable patience and deep human 
sympathies. It was these qualities, recognized by all 
parties, that, throughout the abrupt and dark changes 
of the Russian Revolution, invested Cromie with an 
unique influence, responsible for the saving of scores 
of lives. 

Stationed at Reval, it was largely due to Cromie 
that, when the naval mutiny broke out in the Russian 
Fleet, many oflScers were saved from the fate that 
befell their less fortunate colleagues at Helsingfors 
and Cronstadt. With his headquarters on the 
Russian cruiser Dioina, Cromie lived through the 
spectacle of beholding his own Russian servant ap- 
pointed to the command of the vessel; yet, though 
he had vigorously deplored the formation of the com- 
mittees that took over the charge of the Fleet and 
appealed to them in vain to uphold the discipline 
vital to the preservation of the Russian navy, their 
personal respect for him enabled him to hold his 
flotilla together and even to carry on offensive war- 
fare. 

It was not for very long, however, that this con- 
tinued possible. The debacle that had set in could 
not be stayed; and, after the treaty between Germany 
and the Bolshevik Government had been signed at 
Brest-Litovsk, hope flickered out. There was then 
nothing left but to destroy the British submarines, 
and for their gallant crews to return home; but 
Captain Cromie, as he had then become, was ap- 
pointed naval attache at Petrograd. 



166 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Here he carried into a new and perilous sphere the 
same qualities that had already distinguished him, 
and his influence with all sections was of a kind 
possessed by no other British representative. Even 
when the British Embassy was withdrawn, he re- 
mained at his post in spite of the fast-accumulating 
threats of hunger, pestilence, fanaticism, and German 
intrigue. He was at last to die, at Bolshevik hands, 
in a Petrograd brawl in September, 1918; but yet. 
without leaving, in spite of the madness that slew 
him, a real enemy in Russia. 

A bold and skilful seaman, a first-class organizer 
and leader of men, a naturally sagacious diplomatist, 
he was of a type not too common even in the navy 
itself. A Chevalier of St. George, in the case of Fran- 
cis Cromie, it may be said that the words, indeed, 
bore their literal meaning, and few of our losses in 
the turmoil of war were less reparable than his 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND 

WE HAVE seen Admiral Cradoek, fighting 
gainst odds, sunk in the Southern Pacific; 
Admiral Sturdee victorious in the battle of 
the Falkland Islands; Admiral Beatty chasing the 
German raiders back to their minefields over the 
Dogger Bank; Admirals Garden and de Robeck 
battering the Turkish forts from the ^gean and the 
Dardanelles; British lieutenants harrying the enemy 
in the recesses of the Baltic and the Sea of Marmora; 
British yachtsmen patrolling the home coasts in 
search of German submarines; British fishermen in 
steam trawlers sweeping the fairways for enemy 
mines; and British liners, guarded by cruisers and 
destroyers, gathering up troops from the ends of the 
earth. If we have not seen, we have been conscious 
behind these of a host of craft of every description — 
bringing sheep from Australia, horses from Uruguay, 
and grain from the Argentine and American prairies; 
of Tyne-side colliers battling through the Bay with 
coal for France and Italy, so woefully short of it; of 
munition ships, laden to their utmost capacity, cross- 
ing daily to the French ports; of letters and parcels 
by the thousand million always afloat on every sea. 
We have seen that admiralty alone, and the sons of 

167 



168 THE HEROIC RECORD 

admiralty, were the guarantee of that stupendous 
traffic; and we have seen that the bedrock upon which 
the whole rested, and with it the dearest ideals of 
human freedom, was the Grand Fleet, based on its 
northern harbours, standing sentinel over Germany's 
navy. Upon its integrity all depended. Any dis- 
aster to it would have been irreparable. And when 
it is remembered that there were many days when its 
margin of effective superiority was small — when some 
ships were absent being refitted and others were 
suffering from mechanical defects — it becomes clear 
that no British admiral was ever in a parallel position 
to that of its commander. 

At the Battle of Trafalgar, for instance. Nelson was 
in command of but one section of the British Fleet, 
and the forces vanquished by him were far from 
representing the whole sea-power of the enemy. Had 
Nelson been defeated or even annihilated, the com- 
mand of the sea would not necessarily have passed 
from us. Other squadrons would have been speedily 
collected and the enemy again challenged. But now, 
for the first time, practically all our battle units of 
real fighting value had been placed and were assem- 
bled under the command of a single leader — and 
with them our empire, the world's liberty, and the 
fate of every army then fighting for it. 

That must have been, then, the root fact in the 
mind of its Commander-in-Chief — the "Hell-fire 
Jack" of earlier years — and in no operation could 
he allow himself to forget it. Ashore it was different. 
Here a key position, a province, even an army might 
be lost — might at any rate be gambled with justifi- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 169 

ably — and the ultimate victory still not be compro- 
mised. But at sea it was not so. Nor was the 
German navy in any sense comparably placed. Its 
capital ships might be sunk or destroyed without 
the empire behind them falling to the ground. It 
could therefore afford to take chances denied to the 
British, and it was to find them doing so that the 
Grand Fleet yearned. For this its outposts probed 
the Ems and the Weser, and the Grand Fleet itself 
swept the seas. But it was a long vigil, though not 
so long as Nelson's, watching the Toulon Fleet for 
over two years; for the Jutland Battle, as decisive 
at sea, though not at once so demonstrably so, as 
that of Trafalgar, was fought within twenty-two 
months of the outbreak of the war. During that 
time, as we have seen, a continual marine struggle 
had been in progress; there had been a few collisions 
of capital ships; and the Grand Fleet had been con- 
stantly on patrol. But there had been no pitched 
battle on a grand scale; and it had even begun to 
seem that there never would be. Time after time, 
for its exercises, the Fleet would vanish silently 
from its berths. There was hardly a day when some 
fraction of it, large or small, would not be away at 
sea — sailing so unobtrusively, even to those most 
intimate with it, the wives and families of its men 
and oflBcers, that they would not be aware of its 
departure till the empty berths told them the secret. 
That was the position then, when, on May 30, 
1916, the Grand Fleet left its harbours — a fleet that 
covered when cruising, and this must always be 
remembered in considering the events that followed. 



170 THE HEROIC RECORD 

an area somewhat larger than the County of London. 
It was a lovely afternoon of almost summer warmth, 
with a clear sky ashore and a promise of settled 
weather; and, as usual, the Fleet put to sea in two 
main divisions. Of these the southernmost and 
faster, consisting of the First and Second Battle- 
Cruiser Squadrons, had left the Firth of Forth under 
Vice-Admiral Beatty — the former being composed 
of the four famous "Cats," as they had been chris- 
tened, the Lion, the Tiger, the Princess Royal, 
flying the flag of Rear-Admiral O. de B. Brock, and 
the Queen Mary; and the latter containing the New 
Zealand, under Rear-Admiral W. C. Pakenham, and 
the Indefatigible. Besides these. Admiral Beatty had 
four of the latest battleships of the Queen Elizabeth 
class — the Barham, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral 
Evan-Thomas, the Valiant, Warspite, and Malaya. 
With him were also the First, Second, and Third 
Light Cruiser Squadrons and the First, Ninth, Tenth, 
and Thirteenth Destroyer Flotillas. Under Ad- 
miral Jellicoe to the north there had issued out from 
Scapa Flow the main body of British sea strength 
— ^Admiral Jellicoe's flagship, the Iron Duke, sailing 
with the Fourth Battle Squadron, and the other 
divisions of the Fleet being under the command of 
Vice-Admirals Sir Cecil Burney, second-in-command. 
Sir Thomas Jerram, and Sir Doveton Sturdee, and 
Rear- Admirals Alexander Duff, Arthur Leveson, and 
Ernest Gaunt. 

Now to appreciate the significance both of these 
two main divisions and the composition of Beatty 's 
command — the swiftest and most hea"\dly-gunned 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 171 

vessels that had ever flown the White Ensign — ^there 
are two further considerations that must always be 
borne in mind. Placed as it was, the German navy 
could scarcely be brought to action against its own 
will, and the deployment in line of battle of so great 
a fleet in the North Sea — ^notably in its restricted 
southern area — would have been a matter of the 
greatest difficulty even on a clear day. It was 
Beatty's task, therefore, to lure the enemy, should 
he be encountered, into the arms of the Battle Fleet; 
and, for that reason, he had to be strong enough to 
engage considerable hostile forces, and yet not so 
strong as to scare them home again. He had to be 
swift enough to chase, but also swift enough to run 
away; and, in order that his mission might be ful- 
filled, it was essential that Jellicoe with his battleships 
should at once be not too distant and yet far enough 
away to escape the wide vision of the German air- 
craft. In a word, Beatty*s squadron, cruising in 
accordance with the orders of the Commander-in- 
Chief, had been made both strong enough and swift 
enough to deal with any probable development. Re- 
membering all this then, and to perceive more clearly 
the general trend of the approaching conflict, let us 
forget for a moment about Jellicoe's giants, and follow 
the fortunes of his junior. 

Throughout the afternoon and evening of May 
30th nothing had been seen of the enemy, and, 
though he had put to sea in full force on the morning 
of May Slst, steaming northward parallel to the 
Jutland coast, Beatty had not come into touch with 
him by noon. About that time, therefore, he turned 



172 THE HEROIC RECORD 

north again on his way to rejoin the Battle Fleet, 
with his light cruisers ahead of him, forming an 
extended screen, and the four super-dreadnoughts — 
the vessels of the Queen Elizabeth type — ^bringing 
up the rear. The weather was still fine, but the sea 
was hazy, and clouds had begun to overspread the 
sky. By this time, unseen by Beatty, the German 
Fleet, also in two divisions, was bearing to the 
northwest — ^Admiral von Hipper, with his five battle- 
cruisers, the Derfflinger, the Seydlitz, the Molikey the 
von der Tann, and the Lutzow, being well in advance 
of the main force under the command of Admiral 
von Scheer — as far in advance indeed, at that mo- 
ment, as Beatty was in advance of Jellicoe. Thus a 
bird*s-eye view, taken just before two o'clock, would 
have shown the Jutland coast stretching north and 
south, a hundred-mile strip of more or less empty sea, 
lying almost unrippled to the east of it; then the thin 
line of the German Fleet steaming north and a little 
west, the dark smoke from its funnels lazily rolling 
in the same direction; then another strip of empty 
sea, from fifteen to twenty miles wide; and finally 
Beatty's squadron, with its light cruisers ahead, also 
steaming to the north — the two fleets drawing to- 
gether on gently converging lines. 

Twenty minutes later, from the light cruiser 
Galatea, flying the broad pennant of Commander 
E. S. Alexander-Sinclair, a message was received by 
Admiral Beatty in the Lion that enemy forces had 
been sighted to the eastward; and the order was at 
once given to alter course to the south-southeast 
to cut them off from their base. Five minutes 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY l73 

afterward, the Galatea signalled that the enemy 
was present in considerable strength — a signal also 
received by Admiral Jellicoe on board his flagship the 
Iron Duke — and, within ten minutes, a drift of smoke, 
far to the east, became visible to the Lion. Admiral 
Beatty now ordered the Engadi7ie, the seaplane 
carrier attached to his fleet, to send up a seaplane 
on reconnaissance, and this was most promptly and 
gallantly carried out. Unable to fly, owing to the 
clouds, more than 900 feet high, she came under a 
fierce fire from the enemy cruisers, but brought back 
very valuable information. 

The presence of enemy battle-cruisers ahead was 
now accurately known, and the course had been 
changed again to the northeast, the First and Third 
Light Cruiser Squadrons having spread themselves 
to the eastward to form a screen for the battle- 
cruisers. At half-past three the report from the 
seaplane was received, and, a minute later, enemy 
ships were sighted by the Lion, Admiral Beatty 
then forming into line of battle, and again changing 
his course, this time to east-southeast. All three 
Light Cruiser Squadrons were now ahead of the 
"Cats," these being followed up by the New Zealand, 
and the Indefatigable, the Barham, Valiant, Warspite, 
and Malaya bringing up the rear a few miles behind. 
Von Hipper, with his five cruisers and accompanying 
mosquito-craft, had also turned to the southeast, 
and the two forces were again steaming parallel, and 
again slowly drawing together. For the moment, 
the Germans were considerably outnumbered, at any 
rate in capital ships, and Beatty had the advantage. 



174. 



THE HEROIC RECORD 



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OF THE BRITISH NAVY 175 

both tactically, in that the sun was in his favour, 
not low enough to silhouette him, and illuminating 
the enemy, and strategically, in that he was upon a 
course cutting off von Hipper from his base. On the 
other hand, he was, at the moment, and in accordance 
with a correct appreciation of his duty, drawing 
further away from Admiral Jellicoe and the Battle 
Fleet to the north; while von Hipper was aware 
that the whole German High Seas Fleet was hurrying 
to meet him from the south. For the German rear- 
admiral it was a race against time, and it cannot be 
denied that for the fifty minutes in which he was 
thus outweighted, his gunnery was as excellent as it 
had always been assumed that, in the first stages of 
a fight, it would be. It was only under the ordeal 
of casualties, both in men and machinery, that his 
accuracy began to waver and that of the British to 
increase; and it was while he was at his strongest, as 
it chanced, that Beatty's losses were most severe. 

Joining battle about ten minutes to four, at a range 
of ten and a half miles, both sides pressed the attack 
with the utmost vigour, and it was within a few 
minutes of the opening of the engagement that the 
Indefatigible, struck on a turret over a well-filled 
magazine, was sunk, thus equalizing the numbers of 
the opposing battle-cruisers. Meanwhile the 15-inch 
guns of the great Queen Elizabeth had begun to speak 
at a range of fourteen miles, and, at the same time, 
submarines were reported on both sides of the line 
of battle. These were driven off by the destroyers 
Lydiard and Landrail and the Light Cruiser Notting- 
ham, and, a few minutes later, a concerted destroyer- 



176 THE HEROIC RECORD 

attack was launched upon the enemy cruisers. This 
was conducted by the Nestor, Nomad, Nicator, Nar- 
borough, and Nerissa, the Pelican, Petard, Obdurate, 
Moorsom, and Morris, and the Turbulent and Terma- 
gant; and, almost simultaneously, a like attack was 
observed to be in formation on the part of the enemy, 
fifteen of his destroyers and a light cruiser being thus 
intercepted and engaged at close quarters. 

By half-past four, therefore, the Battle of Jut- 
land had already developed into the biggest of the 
war. Racing'southward at thirty miles an hour were 
fourteen of the most powerful vessels in the world, 
belching half-ton shells in giant parabolas covering 
eight to a dozen miles of sea; while, in between them, 
and under the arch of their fire, were some thirty of 
the latest destroyers fighting a separate battle, as 
it were, at close quarters and with the greatest 
ferocity. On our own side, an 18,000-ton battle- 
cruiser had already been lost with most of her crew, 
while the enemy's third of the line was seen to be on 
fire in the mists now beginning to gather in the 
northeast. Two enemy destroyers were also sunk 
in the melee of the mosquito-craft; but, while they 
were driven back in disorder, our own torpedo- 
attack had been compromised, the destroyers, owing 
to this fight, having fallen some way behind the big 
battle-cruisers that were their objectives. They 
were thus at a distinct disadvantage, but neverthe- 
less, having disposed of the enemy counter-attack, 
the three destroyers, Nestor, Nomad, and Nicator, 
proceeded on their original errand — where, for the 
moment, we may leave them chasing the enemy 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 177 

battle-cruisers and being themselves heavily bom- 
barded. 

It was now twenty minutes to five, and a message 
from the Southampton, scouting ahead to the south, 
had suddenly transformed not only the immediate 
situation, but the entire future outlook of the action. 
Just below the horizon, but soon to be above it, was 
the whole of the German Battle Fleet — such were 
the tidings rapped out to his chief by Commodore 
Goodenough of the Southampton. So far Admiral 
Beatty's problem had been a comparatively simple 
one, and the forces at his disposal ample for its 
solution. But now he was to be thrown, for an 
indefinite period, into a position of almost crushing 
inferiority, yet with the possibility in front of him, 
if the enemy could be tempted to the point of rash- 
ness, of leading up to a victory of the first magni- 
tude. 

For another four minutes he held his course, and 
then, having sighted the German Battle Fleet to the 
southeast, he recalled his destroyers, and headed for 
the northwest, determining to take full advantage 
of his superior speed. Before doing so, however, he 
had sustained, at about half-past four, yet another 
and most serious loss in the sinking of the Queen 
Mary, after a violent explosion, caused by an enemy 
salvo. With the Queen Mary we are already familiar, 
owing to her presence at the Battle of the Bight; 
and, to her three fellow-members of the First Battle- 
Cruiser Squadron, her loss was irreparable. Between 
these splendid cruisers, the Lion, the Tiger, the 
Princess Royal, and the Queen Mary, there had grown 



178 THE HEROIC RECORD 

to be a bond of deep and justifiable pride — a sort of 
consciousness of each other's aristocracy, noncha- 
lantly concealed, but not lightly to be challenged; 
while, apart from this, the Queen Mary was one of 
the finest gunnery ships in the Fleet. Something of 
the ordeal that she went through may best be 
gathered, perhaps, from the account afterward given 
by one of her rescued midshipmen. 

"A salvo of German shells," he said, "hit the 
quarterdeck, setting the whole of that part on fire. 
A few minutes afterward a terrific explosion oc- 
curred in the second magazine. Both our guns were 
then right back on their slides and out of action. 
The general opinion was that the whole turret had 
been unseated by the German salvo. The officer 
of the turret told me that the ship was sinking rapidly 
and that I was to get the turret crew out as quickly 
as possible, which I did. The officer then told me 
to carry out the usual routine: 'Every man for him- 
self.' I left the turret through the hatch on the top 
and found the ship was lying on her side. She was 
broken amidship, with the stern and bows both 
sticking out of the water at an acute angle. I sat 
on the turret for a few moments, and while there I 
thought I saw several men fall into the water. The 
stern was on fire and red hot. Then an explosion 
blew the whole bow right out of the water, causing 
the after part of the ship to give a tremendous lurch, 
and throwing me off the turret into the water. Just 
before I struck the water, I heard another terrific 
explosion above my head, as apparently the after 
magazine exploded. When I came to the surface 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 179 

of the water, nothing of the Queen Mary was to be 
seen, except a lot of wreckage, spars, and that sort of 
thing. The Tiger was steaming behind us during 
the action, and probably passed right over the spot 
where the Queen Mary had gone down. The Queen 
Mary took only about a minute to sink. I remained 
in the water a long time, clinging to a spar, and saw 
a destroyer come up, and saw her turn round and 
make off again. A few minutes afterward, the Fifth 
Battle Squadron (comprising the Queen Elizabeth type 
of ship) steamed past at about 23 knots, firing con- 
tinually. The enemy shots were mostly falling short. 
One enemy shell exploded in the water close to where 
I was, and the concussion knocked me off my spar, 
causing me to lose consciousness. The next thing I 
remember was finding myself, about four hours later, 
in the forecastle of a destroyer. I was told that I 
had been picked up by their whaler about thirty-five 
minutes after the Queen Mary had been blown up. I 
was found on a large hatch which was floating in the 
water." 

With the battle-cruisers swinging round to the 
north, the destroyers having been recalled, let us 
return for a moment to the Nomad, Nestor, and 
Nicator. Proceeding with their attack, the destroyer 
Nomad had soon been put out of action, but the 
Nestor, most spiritedly led by Commander the Hon. 
E. B. B. Bingham, had fired her third torpedo at the 
second of the enemy cruisers from a distance of less 
than two miles. Before being able to fire her fourth, 
she too had become crippled; while the Nicator, hav- 
ing to turn inside her in order to avoid a collision. 



180 THE HEEOIC RECORD 

had been unable to fire her last torpedo, but had 
succeeded in escaping and rejoining her flotilla. 

The position was now as follows — the Light Cruiser 
Southampton, obeying orders to reconnoitre, was 
still steaming south; the British battle-cruisers, led 
by the Lion, were steaming north, parallel to von 
Hipper; and the four 24-knot battleships, led by 
Admiral Evan-Thomas, were still on their original 
course, not having yet made the turn. This brought 
them, for a few minutes, into closer range of von 
Hipper's battle-cruisers, and it was at this stage 
that the German Lutzow was severely damaged, sub- 
sequently to be lost. This was von Hipper's flagship, 
and, leaving her in a destroyer, under the heaviest 
British fire, the German admiral, later in the action, 
transferred his flag to the Battle-Cruiser Derfflinger, 
A quarter of an hour afterward, the [four Queen 
Elizabeths swung round astern of Beatty; and it 
was now upon these vessels that the fire of von 
Scheer's approaching battleships began to be concen- 
trated. 

There had thus begun the second stage of this 
great battle, in which Beatty, confronted by odds 
that he could not face, was now heading to the north, 
and drawing the whole hungry German Fleet toward 
Admiral Jellicoe, some fifty miles away. Ahead of 
the Lion was the Light Cruiser Fearless, another 
memorable figure in the Battle of the Bight, and the 
destroyers of the First Flotilla; also ahead and to 
starboard were the First and Third Light Cruiser 
Squadrons; while, behind and to port, was the Second 
Light Cruiser Squadron — the Light Cruiser Cham- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 181 

pion, with the rest of the destroyers, remaining in 
touch with Admiral Evan-Thomas. 

It was now past five o'clock and the weather con- 
ditions were becoming rapidly more unfavourable. 
Against the clearer sky to the west, the British vessels 
were far more clearly defined than the German, the 
latter passing in and out of the patches of mist, thus 
making the task of the British gunners one of the 
extremest difficulty. Nevertheless it was now that 
the British fire was definitely beginning to assert its 
superiority, while the shooting of the Germans, under 
their heavy punishment, was becoming increasingly 
more wild — ^the main brunt of their fire, during this 
northward race, being borne, as we have said, by the 
Queen Elizabeths. For some time, indeed, it would 
scarcely have been an exaggeration to say that the 
four of them were engaged with the whole High Seas 
Fleet; while some of them at least had the narrowest 
of escapes from being torpedoed by submarines. 
Thanks to their admirable handling, however, they 
came through unscathed, one of the enemy's sub- 
marines being certainly sunk. 

By his rapid appreciation of the new position, his 
instant decision, and the course that he had taken 
Admiral Beatty was now ahead of the long parallel 
German line and slowly bending it toward the north- 
east, keeping within an eight-mile range of the lead- 
ing cruisers. To von Hipper and von Scheer — the 
latter newly in command of the German High Seas 
Fleet — he must have seemed, for a few minutes, but a 
retreating and easy prey; but, a little to the north- 
west, the British Battle Fleet was hurrying at full 



182 THE HEROIC RECORD 

speed to his assistance — the space between them di- 
minishing at the rate of forty-five miles an hour. 

The most crucial moments of the whole engage- 
ment were now irrevocably approaching — ^moments 
that were to test, as they had scarcely been tested 
before, perhaps, the initiative and tactical skill of the 
commanding admirals. Already there was in prog- 
ress a naval action extending over many miles of 
sea, and being fought under conditions of mist and 
fog of the most complex and baffling nature. It was 
an action that even then, involving every device of 
modern offensive warfare, had assumed proportions 
more titanic than that of any sea-fight ever fought; 
and there was now to be committed to it — and so 
committed to it that not a moment was to be lost — 
the mightiest battle fleet in the world and the one 
vital safeguard of the Allies. When it is further 
remembered that the situation, however accurately 
signalled by the engaged squadrons, was changing 
with lightning-like rapidity from moment to moment; 
and that the deployment — the dove-tailing, as it were 
—of the six parallel columns of twenty-four dread- 
noughts into the line of battle-cruisers already 
formed would, under any circumstances, have been 
an operation of the most delicate nature, something 
may be conceived of the sort of task that Admiral 
Jellicoe had to undertake. By no other hand could 
this stupendous manoeuvre have been more ably 
carried out, and, as a commander at sea, by the 
sternest of all tests, he proved himself among the 
finest that Britain has produced. Nor were his 
admirals unworthy of him either in their divination 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 183 

of the movements demanded by their relative posi- 
tions, or in the seamanship and machine-like preci- 
sion with which such movements were carried out. 
Let us follow these, as far as possible, in the order 
in which they occurred. 

Steaming in advance of the main fleet under Ad- 
miral Jellicoe, was the Third Battle-Cruiser Squad- 
ron, under Rear- Admiral the Hon. Horace A. L. 
Hood; and this had received orders from the Com- 
mander-in-Chief to find and support Beatty at the 
earliest possible moment. Led by the flagship 
Invincible, formerly Sturdee's flagship at the Battle 
of the Falkland Islands, the first sign of fighting was 
seen by them in the southwest about half-past five. 
Necessarily uncertain as to the exact position of 
affairs. Admiral Hood sent one of his light cruisers 
to reconnoitre — the Chester, which soon found herself 
fiercely engaged with three or four of the enemy's 
light cruisers. For nearly twenty minutes she 
fought single-handed, suffering a large number of 
casualties; but, thanks to the skill of her commander. 
Captain R. N. Lawson, and the devotion of all on 
board, she escaped comparatively unscathed, though 
with some honourable scars. It was during this 
action that John Travers Cornwell, a first-class boy, 
just over sixteen, though mortally wounded and 
with every member of his gun's crew lying disabled 
about him, remained alone, in a most exposed posi- 
tion, till the end of the action, awaiting orders — 
exemplifying a devotion to dutv for which he was 
awarded the Victoria Cross. 

It v/as now clear to Admiral Hood that he was too 



184 THE HEROIC RECORD 

far to the east, and, at the same time, Beatty had 
sighted the first of the reinforcing cruisers. Six 
minutes later, and five miles to the north, he caught 
a glimpse of the leading British battleships; and it 
was then that he judged the moment to have come 
to try and work between the enemy and his bases. 
To decide was to act, and, just before six, therefore, 
working up his engines to their highest capacity, 
Beatty altered the course of his ships to the direct 
east, closing the range. Some time before this, the 
destroyer Moresby had torpedoed the enemy sixth 
of the line, and, ten minutes after changing course, 
her fellow-destroyer Onslow torpedoed an enemy 
light cruiser. 

While this was in progress. Admiral Hood with his 
battle-cruisers had come into sight, and, acting on 
Beatty's orders, had taken the head of the line in a 
manner, as Beatty said, worthy of his great ancestors. 
For a quarter of an hour, so fiercely did he attack, 
with the strenuous support of Admiral Napier and 
the Third Light Cruiser Squadron, that the enemy's 
leading ships were forced to the south and west, and 
the British line was already beginning, as Beatty had 
designed, to insert itself between the Germans and 
their coast-Kne. Unhappily at the close range at 
which Admiral Hood was now fighting — something 
less than four miles — an enemy shell found one of the 
Invincible' s turrets, firing the magazine, and sinking 
her in less than two minutes. 

The imminent approach of the British Battle Fleet 
had, of course, by this time become known to the 
German commander, and, indeed, it seems probable 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 185 

that he mistook Admiral Hood's battle-cruisers for 
its leading ships. With the head of his line definitely 
menaced by Admiral Beatty's dash, he was on an 
easterly, becoming southeasterly, course; Admiral 
Beatty and his battle-cruisers were already threaten- 
ing to intervene between him and his bases; and he 
now turned to starboard again, through south to 
southwest, in the endeavour to escape disaster, if 
that were possible. Moreover, the weather condi- 
tions that, for the last hour or so, had been almost 
wholly in his favour, were now beginning to tell 
against him almost as much as they were handi- 
capping the British. One after another, his cruisers 
and battleships, emerging for a few minutes from the 
fog, would be instantly picked up and remorselessly 
hammered by the heavy guns of the British Battle- 
Cruiser Squadrons; while the leading battleships of 
the Grand Fleet were already beginning to fall into 
line behind these. 

Meanwhile the four Queen Elizabeths, under Ad- 
miral Evan-Thomas, now considerably in the rear 
of Admiral Beatty, were still heavily engaged with 
von Scheer's battleships lower down his line and not 
yet turned. It had been the original idea of Admiral 
Evan-Thomas to follow up the battle-cruisers ahead 
of the Grand Fleet; but these were so far in front of 
him that it was clearly preferable — and indeed it was 
apparent that this would be Admiral Jellicoe's own 
view — that the Grand Fleet should deploy in the gap. 
Admiral Evan-Thomas himself thus bringing up the 
rear. At the same time, after the loss of the In- 
vincible, Beatty had again placed himself at the head 



186 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of the line, the Third Battle-Cruiser Squadron taking 
station behind him, between the New Zealand and 
the on-coming Battle Fleet. 

That all this should have taken place in the deepen- 
ing twilight at great speed, and in spite of repeated 
torpedo-attacks, wasjthe highest tribute, not only to 
the Commander-in-Chief, but to the seamanship and 
intuition of his supporting admirals — and here it 
must be remembered that, to a certain extent. Ad- 
miral Jellicoe himself had been taken by surprise. 
Between the position of the German Fleet, as it had 
been signalled to him, and the position in which he 
eventually came into contact with it, there was a 
difference of twelve miles — quite understandable in 
view of the conditions in which courses had been 
plotted, but none the less adding to the difficulties of 
the on-coming Commander. Thus, at five minutes 
to six, he was still uncertain of the exact whereabouts 
of the enemy — the utmost care was necessary in order 
to distinguish between our own and hostile vessels — ■ 
and he was steering on a course, southwest by south, 
at a speed of 20 knots. It was scarcely avoida- 
ble also, under such circumstances, that there should 
have been a certain number of casualties; and it was 
while manoeuvring in what we have called this gap 
that some of the cruisers ahead of the Battle Fleet 
found themselves not only too close to the enemy 
battleships, but, a few minutes later, between the 
enemy line and the advancing Queen Elizabeths. 
It was there that the Defence, under Rear-Admiral 
Sir Robert Arbuthnot, was blown up and sunk, and 
the Warrior so severely damaged that she was sub- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 187 

sequently lost, though not before they had disabled, 
between them, one of the enemy's light cruisers. 

"At 5.40," said one of the Warrior's survivors, "we 
went to Action Stations, and, ten minutes later, we 
heard the first gun fired by the armoured cruiser 
Defence. A few minutes afterward, the Warrior 
fired her starboard battery's big guns, and then we 
slewed round and fired the port guns. We had not 
sent off more than a couple of salvos, when, looking 
out, I saw the Defence blown clean out of the water. 
We were then closely engaged with three German 
ships — a battle-cruiser and two light cruisers. Our 
first round went home. We had not been firing many 
minutes before we noticed that one of the enemy 
light cruisers was on fire, and big clouds of smoke 
were coming from her. Gradually we got to closer 
range (ten thousand yards), firing all the time; and 
we ourselves had been hit many times by heavy pro- 
jectiles, and almost the whole of the afterpart of the 
ship was on fire. Finally, we got within 5,400 yards 
of the battle-cruiser, but we had only fired one salvo 
with all our guns when the Warspite came to our 
assistance. By that time our ship was almost help- 
less; our engine-rooms and stokeholds were flooded, 
owing to a projectile having penetrated below the 
water-line, so that we could not obtain steam for the 
engines. Shells or heavy armour-piercing shot had 
penetrated almost everything. The ship was also 
making water badly, and there was a fire in the after 
part of the vessel. Part of the ship's company was 
all this time engaged with the hose in trying to put 
out the fire, and the men not required for that were 



188 THE HEROIC RECORD 

set to work to construct rafts, for the ship was grad- 
ually settling down. At 6.30 the order was given to 
cease fire, for we had, by that time, lost all trace 
of the German Fleet, and the Warrior was regarded 
as being out of action. As soon as the fire was got 
under control, we commenced to identify the dead, 
who were that night buried (the funeral service 
being held the next day), and to get up the wounded. 
That being done, all hands were set to work at the 
pumps so as to keep the ship afloat, and we had to 
keep them going all night. Early in the evening — 
at 7.50 — a seaplane depot-ship came alongside and 
took us in tow for ten hours. The Warrior settled 
down more and more all through the night. On the 
following morning, the sea was very rough. Early 
in the forenoon, the order was reluctantly given to 
abandon ship. The depot-ship again came along- 
side, and our wounded were all safely transferred to 
her. Then the ship's company and officers left the 
ship, and the last we saw of the Warrior was between 
nine and ten in the forenoon when she was rapidly 
settling down aft. We were naturally all very sorry 
to see the last of the grand old ship, but after all she 
came to a gallant end." 

It will have been noticed that the Warspite is 
mentioned by this observer as coming to the Warrior's 
rescue; and this refers to an incident, occurring at 
this period, that was one of the most remarkable of 
the whole battle. While emptying salvos into von 
Scheer's leading battleships, the steering-gear of the 
Warspite became jammed; and, to the horror of her 
consorts in Admiral Evan-Thomas's squadron, she 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 189 

suddenly began to describe a great circle toward the 
enemy. This immediately exposed her to the ex- 
tremest, and what seemed an inevitably fatal, dis- 
advantage, and she disappeared from sight behind a 
veritable Niagara of shell-spouts, smoke, and explo- 
sions. Presently, to everybody's amazement, she 
emerged again, stricken but not disabled, and reply- 
ing vigorously, and then once more, still at full speed, 
proceeded upon the same astounding course. It was 
just before the Defence was sunk that her steering- 
gear became Jammed; and it was while describing 
her two great circles that she drew the enemy's fire 
from the Warrior. To the latter, as we have seen, it 
seemed as if she had been deliberately doing this, and 
afterward her commander boarded the Warspite to 
tender his thanks — where Captain Phillpotts, whose 
skilful handling had brought his vessel safe home to 
harbour, while very pleased to have been of service, 
had regretfully to deny the imputed gallantry « 

Another most brilliant action was fought at this 
time by the Third Light Cruiser Squadron, under 
Rear-Admiral Napier, the Falmouth and Yarmouth — 
the latter a distinguished member of the China 
Squadron before the war — both firing torpedoes and 
scoring a hit on the German battle-cruiser leading 
the line, the whole squadron then closing in and 
engaging these much more powerful vessels with their 
guns. Nor were the destroyers any less busy, though 
considerably outnumbered by the Germans, and the 
action of the Shark may be taken as typical both of 
their enterprise and devotion. Unhappily she was 
lost with her brave leader (also awarded the Victoria 



190 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Cross) Commander Loftus Jones, but, for ten min- 
utes, she fought a fight according to the greatest 
traditions of her class. 

"Right ahead of us," said one of her survivors, 
"and close at hand, we saw two columns of German 
destroyers. We were racing along at the time, and 
our skipper took us at full speed right toward the 
enemy lines. There was a column of their small craft 
on either side of us, and, as soon as we got abreast 
of them, we attacked at close range, and managed 
to torpedo a couple of enemy destroyers, one on each 
beam. All the time we were getting it hot. Guns 
were popping at us from all quarters, and we were 
firing back as hard as we could go, as well as using 
our torpedo-tubes. Of course a fight under these 
conditions could not last long for us. We had been 
engaged about ten minutes when two torpedoes hit 
fairly, one on each side of our ship, and ripped three 
holes in her, so that she sank almost at once. I and 
some others sprang on to a raft, where we stayed for 
five hours watching the battle — and there was some- 
thing to look at. Zeppelins, torpedo-craft, subma- 
rines, and big ships were all there. Shells fell like 
hailstones into the water, and we could see the small 
craft getting it badly. The enemy losses in destroyers 
must have been very great, for whenever one got a 
big shell in her she was done. Some of them I saw 
hit went down like stones. Apparently there were 
a lot of German submarines, and they seemed to be 
very busy, but my impression is that a good many of 
them were done for by our ships running over them. 
The fire of the big ships was enough to stun anybody 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 191 

with the noise it made. I saw five German battle- 
ships and battle-cruisers; they looked as though they 
were all firing at one time at one of our cruisers. 
The Germans seemed to be concentrating their fire 
upon one ship at a time as much as they could — a 
lot of these big ships would all turn the whole of their 
guns upon one of our cruisers, and then do the same 
thing to another. This meant a tremendous batter- 
ing for the ships they fired at. You can imagine 
what it was to face these salvos from four or five of 
their vessels pouring upon one ship at the same time. 
I saw one or two ships go, but I could not give you 
any particulars about them, as there was so much 
going on that one could not grasp details very well. 
When I was picked up from the raft, I was about 
done, for it was very cold, and I had not much cloth- 
ing on. Toward the latter part of the time, we had 
as much as we could to do keep life in ourselves. 
We kept our blood circulating by jumping overboard 
and swimming round the raft. All of us did this in 
turn, those on the raft hauling in the men who had 
finished their swim, and then going for a swim round 
the raft themselves. As it was, one of our men died 
from exposure before he could be landed." 

Meanwhile, in such circumstances and under such 
conditions, the deployment of the Battle Fleet had 
been carried through. It was not until fourteen 
minutes past six that Admiral Jellicoe received 
definite confirmation from Admiral Beatty as to the 
position of the High Seas Fleet; and, two minutes 
later, still on a course southeast by east, he ordered 
the Fleet to deploy into line of battle on the port 



192 THE HEROIC RECORD 

wing column, at the same time reducing speed to 
14 knots in order to allow the battle-cruisers 
to pass ahead. For this manoeuvre, since a star- 
board deployment would have brought him more 
rapidly into contact with the enemy. Admiral Jellicoe 
had several cogent reasons. In the first place, the 
High Seas Fleet was so near that, assuming its de- 
stroyers to be probably ahead of it, there would 
have been a very great danger, under the prevailing 
weather conditions, of a successful enemy destroyer- 
attack during deployment — and the consequent 
grave risk of the whole Battle Fleet being thrown 
into confusion. There would also have been the 
risk of the ships of the First Battle Squadron — in- 
ferior in many respects to the German, and our own 
weakest battleships — being very severely handled 
before our remaining divisions could get into line. 
Yet a third reason for the port deployment, in the 
estimated position of the German High Seas Fleet, 
was that the alternative would have meant a very 
large turn for every deploying division, in order to 
avoid the risk of being outflanked. 

For these reasons, Admiral Jellicoe decided there- 
fore — and it had to be an instant decision — to deploy 
in the manner described. The port wing division, 
therefore, stood on in a direction across the bows of 
the German Battle Fleet. The other squadrons 
followed, thus compelling the Germans to turn yet 
further to starboard to avoid being placed in a posi- 
tion of disastrous tactical disadvantage. By 6.33 
p. M., the battle-cruisers were clear, and the speed 
of the Battle Fleet was increased to 17 knots; and, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 193 

by 6.38, deployment was complete, many of our 
battleships being already in action. Of these the 
first to be engaged were those of the First Battle 
Squadron, under Vice-Admiral Burney, his flag-ship, 
the Marlborough, especially distinguishing herself 
by the rapidity and effectiveness of her fire. Be- 
tween a quarter past six and a quarter past seven, 
she had engaged two battleships and a cruiser; 
been herself torpedoed; and then, in spite of this, 
had put out of action yet another enemy battleship. 
Admiral Jellicoe's own battleship, the Iron DuJce, 
had begun to hit at her third salvo; and, throughout 
the action, the Grand Fleet's gunnery maintained the 
highest standard. As a German officer afterward 
admitted, "We were utterly crushed from the mo- 
ment your Battle Fleet came into action." 

With the third phase of the battle, however, that 
would have seen, on a clear summer evening, the 
annihilation of the German Fleet, the weather had so 
changed, that only with the greatest difficulty was 
the enemy kept in sight at all. For a few minutes, 
about half-past seven, Beatty was able to engage, 
setting a ship on fire; but soon the fog was thicker 
than ever, and he had to send his light cruisers to 
locate the enemy. Three-quarters of an hour later, 
the line was found again, the Lion setting the leading 
ship on fire, and the Princess Royal, New Zealand, and 
Indomitable crippling and setting fire to two others. 

That, as it turned out, was the last action fought 
by any of our capital ships; and it would be well, 
perhaps, to pause here for a brief survey of the general 
position of the two fleets. Admiral Beatty, still at 



194 THE HEROIC RECORD 

the head of the line, was by now far to the south and 
shaping a southwesterly course, the Battle Fleet 
streaming behind him, to the north, and then to the 
west, somewhat in the shape of a vast hook with its 
shaft tilted toward the northwest. Within this 
hook, the enemy's line, broken in many places, was 
struggling homeward — the shaft of the hook already 
lying well between him and his bases. It was 
such a predicament as, but for mist and darkness, 
must undoubtedly have proved fatal; and it must be 
confessed that von Scheer showed considerable skill 
in. making all possible use of his respite. 

Superior in destroyers, he did his utmost, by put- 
ting up smoke-screens and ordering torpedo-attacks, 
to add to the diflSculties of our capital ships in bring- 
ing his own to close quarters ; and, during the night, 
after sustaining heavy casualties — more particularly 
in personnel — he succeeded in rounding the shaft of 
the hook and bringing his shattered forces home to 
port. Of that wild night, therefore, the picture re- 
solves itself into one of destroyers and light cruisers 
searching the darkness; of flying glimpses of enemy 
units ; of fierce but momentary bursts of fire. Thus, 
at twenty minutes past ten, the Second Light Cruiser 
Squadron fought a quarter of an hour's engagement 
with five enemy cruisers; at half -past eleven, the 
Birmingham sighted two capital ships making their 
way southward to be lost in the night again; an 
hour later, the Petard and Turbulenfy two destroyers, 
were suddenly transfixed by the searchlights of a 
retreating battleship, the Turbulent being sunk by 
the enemy's secondary armament as she raced past. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 195 

seeking safety. The destroyer Tipperary, with her 
commander, Captain Wintour, the leader of the 
Fourth Flotilla, was also lost, but not before the 
flotilla had inflicted severe casualties upon the enemy. 
Another organized destroyer^attack was that of the 
Twelfth Flotilla, under Captain A. J. B. Stirling, in 
which a large detachment of the enemy was taken 
by surprise, one of his vessels being blown up and 
another hit. 

So the night passed, never to be forgotten by any 
who lived through it, and, for only too many, slipping 
benumbed off rafts and wreckage into the water, or 
going down in the roar of explosions, the last night 
of all. "When a battleship is hit and seriously 
damaged," afterward wrote the famous American, 
Admiral Dewey, "there is no way of knowing 
whether or not she is about to sink. It may be 
possible that she will remain afloat for hours, or that 
she may not sink at all. Her purpose is to continue 
to damage the enemy to the greatest possible extent. 
A single final shot fired from a sinking ship may be 
the blow that will turn the tide of battle and the 
destiny of empires. The damaged battleship, there- 
fore, continues to fight. The men remain in the 
fire room, in the turrets, at their guns. Every man 
continues that particular job which is his in fighting 
the ship as long as she may strike a blow. It there- 
fore happens that, when a battleship goes down, there 
is practically nobody on deck, and there is no man 
who may leave his post in time to put on a lifebelt 
or launch a raft. Quite naturally, every man dies 
with the ship." 



196 THE HEROIC RECORD 

In this way Admirals Hood and Arbutlinot and 
many a gallant sailor, long to be remembered, went 
down with their ships, though, despite all risks, when 
the run of the battle permitted, rescues were at- 
tempted and often with success. A typical example 
of this was the action of the destroyer Defender, under 
Lieutenant- Commander Laurence R. Palmer, who, 
herself having been severely damaged by a 12-inch 
shell in her foremost boiler, struggled to the assistance 
of the Onslow, under Lieutenant-Commander J. C. 
Tovey, who had been rendered helpless by an enemy 
shell. 

This latter destroyer, having sighted a light cruiser 
about to attack the Lion with torpedoes, had at once 
assailed her with the utmost spirit, closing to within 
a range of a little over a mile, and firing no less 
than fifty-eight rounds at her. She had then pro- 
ceeded to attack some enemy battle-cruisers, and had 
already fired one of her torpedoes, when she was 
struck by a shell; and her commander, thinking his 
torpedoes all gone, had then ordered her retirement. 
Learning, however, that he still had three torpedoes 
left, he again attacked and torpedoed the light 
cruiser, with which he had been previously engaged, 
sighted some more battleships and loosed the rest of 
his torpedoes, before his vessel gave out and came to 
a standstill. It was while thus drifting helplessly, 
and with shells plunging all about her, that the 
Defender, whose own speed had been reduced to 
about ten knots, came alongside and took her in tow. 
Twice during the night, owing to the rising sea, the 
tow between these two heroic cripples became parted. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 197 

and twice it was made good, the two journeying 
together till the afternoon of the following day. 
Lastly must be mentioned the Abdiel, which, under 
the command of Captain Berwick Curtis, had been 
ordered by Admiral Jellicoe to lay mines behind the 
retreating Germans. This her great speed — 40 knots 
an hour — ^and the gallantry of all on board enabled 
her to do, the flying enemy sustaining several cas- 
ualties as the result of her enterprise and skill. 

So ended the Battle of Jutland, as regarded the 
sea, the most gigantic that the world had known — 
for, when the next day dawned, June 1st, a day 
already glorious in British annals, it was to find the 
enemy gone and Admiral Jellicoe in unchallenged 
possession of the field. Breaking through mists, well- 
nigh as dense as those in which it had set, the sun rose 
and with it the hopes of the British admirals that the 
work of the night might be completed. Those hopes, 
alas, remained unfulfilled, for, when the fog cleared 
and the sea lay revealed, it became apparent that 
the enemy had fled, broken and dispirited, under the 
cover of darkness, and was in no mood to rejoin the 
battle that he was already proclaiming as a German 
victory. 

Four hundred miles from its bases — in enemy 
waters, close to his very harbours — the Grand Fleet 
waited till eleven in the morning before reluctantly 
sailing for home. And it was this fact, in itself a 
proof of triumph, that was partly accountable for the 
immediate sequel. For there now followed, thanks 
to the precipitate German flight, and the enemy's 
neighbourhood to his bases; to the world's unfamil- 



198 THE HEROIC RECORD 

iarity, after nearly a century, with the cost and crite- 
rion of naval success; and to the prompt and wholly 
unscrupulous use by the German Government of its 
wireless press agencies — an almost world-wide belief 
that the British Fleet had met with disaster. 

With the Grand Fleet still at sea off its own coast, 
Germany flooded the world with the following state- 
ment: "During an enterprise directed toward the 
North, our High Seas Fleet, on Wednesday last, met 
a considerably superior main portion of the British 
Battle Fleet. In the course of the afternoon, be- 
tween the Skager Rack and the Horn Reef, a number 
of severe and, for us, successful engagements devel- 
oped and continued all night. In these engagements, 
as far as is at present ascertained, we destroyed the 
great battleship Warspite, the battle-cruisers Queen 
Mary and Indefatigable, two armoured cruisers of the 
Achilles class, one small cruiser, and the new de- 
stroyer leaders Turbulent, Nestor, and Alcester. Ac- 
cording to trustworthy evidence, a great number of 
British battleships suffered heavy damage from the 
artillery of our vessels and the attacks of our torpedo- 
boat flotillas, during the day battle and during the 
night. Among others, the great battleship Marl- 
borough was hit by a torpedo, as is confirmed by the 
statements of prisoners. A portion of the crews 
of the British vessels that were sunk were picked up 
by our vessels. On our side the small cruiser Wies- 
baden was sunk by the enemy's artillery in the course 
of the day battle, and, during the night, the Pommern 
by a torpedo. Regarding the fate of the Frauenlob, 
which is missing, and some torpedo-boats, which 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 199 

have not returned up to the present, nothing is 
known. The High Seas Fleet returned to its harbour 
in the course of to-day." 

This was the German version, by twenty-four 
hours the first in the field; and a certain kind of 
triumph undoubtedly followed it. In every neutral 
country, including America, heavily captioned news- 
paper articles proclaimed a British defeat — an im- 
pression hardly dissipated by the candour and caution 
of the first British oJ0Scial report. That our losses 
were heavy could not, of course, be denied, and they 
were instantly and frankly confessed. Six cruisers, 
including three battle-cruisers, and eight destroyers 
had paid the price of admiralty ; while, on the other 
hand, the German losses were only grudgingly an- 
nounced as it became impossible to conceal them. 
How heavy they were and how profound was the loss 
of moral that followed the Jutland defeat was only 
later to become manifest, though a good deal might 
have been guessed from the foregoing message. Fur- 
ther evidence, too, might have been deduced from 
the hurried visit of the Kaiser to Wilhelmshaven, 
and the almost hysterical exaggeration of his address 
to his broken fleet. There he assured them that 
"the gigantic fleet of Albion, ruler of the seas, 
which, since Trafalgar, for a hundred years, had im- 
posed on the whole world a bond of sea tyranny," 
had "come out into the field," and had been beaten; 
that "a great hammer blow" had been struck; and 
that the "nimbus of British world supremacy had 
disappeared." 

Such were the Kaiser's words, breathed into the 



200 THE HEROIC RECORD 

ear of the world to conceal the result of Jutland, if 
this might be done; and hardly was the armistice 
signed before they were openly given the lie by one of 
Germany's leading authorities. After the Battle of 
Jutland, said Captain Persius, so shattering had been 
its results for the German navy, it had at once be- 
come clear to all thinking men that no second en- 
gagement must be risked; and, even at the time, it 
soon began to be suspected by the rest of the world 
that this was the truth. As for the Grand Fldet it- 
self it was content to wait. It knew that it had won, 
and it had long learned patience. Let the Kaiser 
harangue. To-morrow would come, and, with to- 
morrow, the truth would out. Meanwhile it rode 
the seas on its accustomed ways, while, behind its 
shield, and beneath its pressure, the armies of free- 
dom poured into Europe, and the strength of Ger- 
many continued to crumble. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE DOVER PATROL 

The kings and the presidents go their ways. 
Their armies march behind them. 
But where would they be. 
Said the man from the sea. 
Without us Jacks to mind them? 

IT IS seldom possible, during the course of a war, 
to appraise the ultimate value of any single 
action; and it was only by slow degrees, as we 
have suggested, that the results of Jutland were to 
become visible. Not until the very end was it fully 
to appear that the enemy's capital surface ships had 
been so hammered and cowed as to have freed the 
seas of them with a finality equalled by no other 
naval fight in history. Presently, as we shall show, 
that proved to be the case; and, from now onward, 
he relied upon his submarines — it was early in 1917 
that these reached their high-water mark of mer- 
cantile destruction — and occasional tip-and-run raids 
on the part of his destroyers based upon Zeebrugge 
and Ostend. 

With regard to the submarine campaign, this was 
the most serious menace the Admiralty had been 
required to face; and it was to take charge of the 
grave situation, created by its initial success, that 
Sir John Jellicoe, to the sorrow of the Fleet and with 

201 



202 THE HEROIC RECORD 

much personal regret, was called to the Admiralty 
as First Sea Lord in succession to Sir Henry Jackson. 

This able officer had succeeded Lord Fisher on the 
latter's resignation in May, 1915 — when the Gallipoli 
campaign had seemed to him finally to have made an 
end of his alternative policy — Mr. Balfour having 
become First Lord in the Coalition Government 
formed at the same time. In Admiral Beatty, how- 
ever, both the navy and the nation felt that the 
Grand Fleet would be in capable hands — the changes 
taking place after friendly discussion between the 
officers concerned, in the Iron Duke — and Sir John 
Jellicoe returned to Whitehall to deal with as perilous 
a crisis as had ever faced the empire. 

What had in fact happened was that, under the 
stimulus of war, both scientific research and achieve- 
ment had advanced, as regarded the submarine, with 
unprecedented strides. From a range of scores to a 
range of hundreds and even thousands of miles, they 
had become effective. They had begun to attain a 
speed that put them on superior terms to the vast 
bulk of mercantile steamers; and they already carried 
guns that, before the war, it would^have been thought 
impossible to mount, and that were in fact heavier 
than those carried by the earlier German destroyers. 
Nor had the measures of defence as yet overtaken 
those of destruction in the race for stability. The 
methods that, to a great extent, had been successful 
in dealing with «the smaller submarines had become 
obsolete; and the devising of others, their practical 
application, and the safeguarding, in the meantime, 
of our mercantile marine — more than half a million 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 203 

tons of mercantile shipping were, at this time, being 
sunk every month — were problems upon whose solu- 
tion depended not only the victory of the Allied cause, 
but the actual physical existence of the people upon 
these islands. 

Of the means ultimately adopted, of which it may 
at once be said that none was in itself a complete 
solution, it would be impossible, in the present vol- 
ume, to give more than the briefest details. The 
plotting out of minefields for which 100,000 mines, of 
an improved type, were ordered by Admiral Jellicoe, 
and of which the most extensive was designed to 
stretch from the north of Scotland to the waters of 
Norway; the construction and employment on a 
vast scale of speedy patrol vessels of all descriptions; 
the regular use of aircraft, both for observation and 
the dropping of depth-charges ; and the development 
of the convoy system with destroyer escorts, as the 
increase in the production of the latter justified this 
— it was rather to a combination of all these methods, 
and the skill and adaptability of the men employing 
them, that the ascendency over this new weapon 
was slowly regained. Of one particular means, how- 
ever, namely the employment of lure ships — armed 
vessels, variously disguised — no record of our naval 
activities from the personal standpoint could omit 
some account; and of the amazing courage and in- 
genuity with which the Q ships, as they were called, 
were handled, let the following couple of examples, 
chosen at random, suflSciently indicate. 

Powerfully armed, but with a false screen disguis- 
ing the extent of her armament, the apparently easy 



204 THE HEROIC RECORD 

prey, H. M. S. Prize, a topsail schooner of 200 tons, 
was sighted, on April 30, 1917, by a prowling sub- 
marine. This opened fire at about three miles range, 
and, according to plan. Lieutenant W. E. Sanders 
ordered some of his crew, as though in a panic, to 
lower a boat and push off. Meanwhile the ship's 
head was put into the wind, and the gun crews lay 
flat on the deck to conceal themselves. Still shelling 
the schooner and inflicting numerous casualties — 
borne in silence as part of the game — the submarine 
approached to within seventy yards, apparently sat- 
isfied that she had been definitely abandoned. That 
was Lieutenant Sanders' chance, and he made the 
fullest use of it. Running up the White Ensign, 
the screens were dropped, and every available gun 
opened fire. The submarine's conning-tower was 
blown to pieces, as was her forward gun, all of the 
crew of the latter being destroyed; while a machine- 
gun on the Prize raked her deck. In less than five 
minutes she was on fire and sinking in a cloud of 
smoke, her captain and one of her men being picked 
up and brought aboard the Prize as prisoners. The 
Prize herself, however, was now sinking fast; and it 
was only by the most strenuous efforts of all aboard 
that the holes in her were plugged and she was kept 
afloat till, two days later, she was found by a motor- 
launch. 

Less successful, but equally representative of the 
work of these individualist adventure-ships, was the 
extraordinary action fought by the Dunraven in the 
following August. Commanded by Captain Gordon 
Campbell, who had already distinguished himself in 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 205 

this particular form of warfare, the Dunraven, 
apparently an ordinary armed merchant-ship, sighted 
an enemy submarine on the horizon. Observing that 
the Dunraven continued her zig-zag course, the sub- 
marine at once set off in chase of her, remaining 
submerged till within less than three miles, when she 
came to the surface and opened fire. With what was 
seemingly her single gun, the Dunraven began to 
reply to this, at the same time sending out distress 
signals, by means of her wireless, in order to preserve 
her supposed character. Later, as the shells began to 
drop nearer, she lowered her "panic" party, being 
already herself then on fire aft. 

Meanwhile the submarine had approached to with- 
in 400 yards, being obscured by the Dunraven's 
smoke; and, for this reason, though every moment's 
delay added to the risk of her after magazine's being 
blown up, Captain Campbell decided not to open fire 
until he could get a clearer view of his enemy. Un- 
fortunately, before this happened, a heavy explosion 
revealed to the submarine the true nature of the 
Dunraven by accidentally starting her fire-gongs, one 
of her guns, with its gun crew, having been destroyed. 
There was no alternative, therefore, but to drop the 
screens — though only one gun could be brought to 
bear — the enemy submarine, taking alarm, having 
already begun to submerge. It was now obvious 
that the Dunraven would be torpedoed, and Captain 
Campbell took prompt measures. Removing the 
wounded, and concealing them in cabins, and bringing 
a hose to bear on the fire, he signalled that all traffic 
should be kept below the horizon during the final 



206 THE HEROIC RECORD 

act that was to come. Having been twice torpedoed, 
he then sent away a second "panic" party, and thus 
left the ship apparently forsaken, with all her guns 
unmasked and the White Ensign flying. 

The fires had now to be left to work their will; 
ammunition was exploding on all sides; and, for 
fifty minutes, while Captain Campbell and those 
remaining with him still lay hidden, the submarine 
cautiously surveyed the vessel through her projecting 
periscope. She then came to the surface, astern of 
the Dunraven, where no guns could be trained on her, 
and, for twenty minutes, proceeded to shell her before 
steaming past, and again examining her. Captain 
Campbell then decided to let off a torpedo at herj 
but this Just missed. Apparently unobservant of 
this, the submarine then turned and steamed slowly 
down the other side. Captain Campbell loosing a 
second torpedo, also unhappily without result. This 
was seen by the enemy, who at once submerged 
again. Captain Campbell signalling for help; while, as 
a last resource, he disembarked yet a third "panic" 
party, leaving but one gun's crew aboard. Nothing 
more was heard from the enemy, however, and, in a 
few minutes, British and American destroyers were 
on the scene; the wounded were transferred; the fires 
were put out; and the Dunraven was taken in tow. 
Both Captain Campbell and Lieutenant-Commander 
Sanders received the Victoria Cross for their Q 
boat work — the latter being unfortunately lost, with 
his schooner the Prize a few months after the incident 
just related. 

Now in all these measures, as in the surveillance of 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 207 

shipping and the protection of Anglo-French traffic, 
the Dover Patrol necessarily played a commanding 
and indeed vital part. Upon it devolved the guard- 
ing of the southern of the two outlets by which alone 
the German submarines might escape into the Atlan- 
tic; and the difficulties were trebled by the enemy's 
possession of the West Flanders ports. With the 
geography and defences of these and their strategical 
signfficance we shall deal more particularly in the 
next chapter as with the splendid episode in which 
the Dover Patrol rendered them largely valueless 
to the enemy. But it must never be forgotten that, 
for nearly four years, the Dover Patrol carried on its 
work with the hostile ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend 
always within three hours' steaming. Darkness is 
the friend of the destroyer, daylight the friend of the 
submarine. Both were stationed at these enemy 
ports; and the strain upon the Dover command can 
thus be gauged. Further, it has to be remembered 
that through no other channel in the world passes so 
continual a procession of ships, how integral in the 
life of this country let a single incident suffice to show. 
In perhaps the darkest hour of the war, a serious 
proposal was made to the Government completely 
to seal the Straits of Dover for a certain defensive 
purpose. The proposal was examined, and it was 
then ascertained that, as regarded London alone, 
one of the following alternatives must immediately 
follow. Either it would have to be arranged, at a 
time when pressure upon our rolling-stock was at 
its severest, that no less than seventy-two additional 
trains should enter London daily, or that more than 



208 THE HEROIC RECORD 

three and a half millions of London's population 
should be removed to the Atlantic ports that it was 
proposed to use. The suggestion was thus found 
to be wholly impracticable, but its examination at 
least proved the immense responsibility resting 
upon the Dover Patrol and the officers in charge 
of it. 

Established at the beginning of the war, the ex- 
amination service in the Downs, therefore, continued 
without intermission to its end, the work being con- 
ducted by the Ramsgate Boarding Flotilla, largely 
manned by reservists and volunteers. From a hun- 
dred and twenty, diminishing, as the war proceeded, 
to eighty vessels a day were thus overhauled; and, 
almost every night, the Patrol was responsible for 
the safety of a hundred vessels here at anchorage. 
Nor did these duties exhaust the list, for to the Dover 
Patrol fell the additional task of supporting, day and 
night, the left flank of the British army. In a very 
real sense, indeed, it was itself not only the left 
flank of the British army, but of the whole of the 
Allied forces reaching from the Alps to the Belgian 
coast. Subject to continual attack not only from 
enemy surface-craft and the ever more efficient Ger- 
man submarines, but from daily and nightly excur- 
sions of hostile aeroplanes and airships, its own 
weapons of offence were largely novel and hitherto 
untried. The sea-going monitor was still, in most 
respects, an unfamiliar vessel; and the splendid 
qualities of these shallow-draught gun-platforms — 
some of which had just been completed for river 
work in Brazil — were as yet unrevealed when first 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 209 

enlisted for their arduous duties upon the Belgian 
coast. Wlien it is also recalled that under no other 
command, perhaps, was serving so large a proportion 
of amateurs, some idea becomes possible, not only 
of the peculiar functions of the Dover Patrol, but of 
the very deep debt owed by the nation to this sort of 
naval maid-of-all-work. 

To Rear-Admiral the Hon. Horace A. L. Hood — 
afterward, as we have seen, to be lost in the Battle 
of Jutland — fell the responsible task, in the first days 
of war, of directing the activities of this composite 
force; and, in the great race toward the coast that 
followed the first battle of the Marne, a flotilla under 
his command was actively engaged in supporting the 
left wing of the Belgian army. It was during the 
last half of October, 1914, that the military position, 
as regarded the coast-line, was most critical; and it 
was during the night of October 17th that Admiral 
Hood, flying his flag in the old fleet-scout Attentive, 
anchored off Nieuport Pier with three monitors, the 
Severn^ Humher, and Mersey, the light cruiser Fore- 
sight, and several destroyers. 

Early next morning news was received that the 
German infantry was marching from Westende, and 
the flotilla moved up the coast to draw the fire from, 
and if possible to silence, the batteries that accom- 
panied them. Almost immediately fire broke out 
from the shore, and this proved to be the beginning 
of a coastal campaign that continued without inter- 
mission for the next three weeks. For the defence 
of Nieuport some machine-guns from the monitor 
Severn were put ashore, and it was while in charge 



glO THE HEROIC RECORD 

of these that Lieutenant E. S. Wise, gallantly leading 
his men, was killed. 

For the first few days, the enemy troops were try- 
ing to push along the coast roads in considerable 
force; a large amount of transport came under the 
naval guns; and much damage and destruction was 
caused by them. In view of this, the enemy soon 
changed his tactics, the infantry being withdrawn; 
while heavier guns were brought into action, com- 
pelling a response from the sea-forces. The lighter 
craft were therefore sent home to be replaced by 
H. M. S. Venerable and some old cruisers, while, at 
the same time, five French destroyers were placed by 
Admiral Favereau under Admiral Hood's command 
— the latter having the honour, as he put it (and it is 
tempting to wonder what would have been the com- 
ments upon this of the Hood who fought under Pitt) 
of flying his own flag n the French doetroyer Intre- 
pide. 

During the later stages, persistent submarine- 
attacks were made upon the larger bombarding ves- 
sels, but these were thwarted, though not without 
casualties, by the alertness and dash of the destroyers. 
It was while thus guarding the Venerable that the 
destroyer Falcon came under a very heavy fire from 
the enemy's larger guns, and exhibited, in the persons 
of her officers and crew, the utmost coolness and devo- 
tion. Thus, under a hail of projectiles that even- 
tually killed him. Lieutenant Wanton remained un- 
moved at his outlook for submarines.^. With the 
captain and twenty-four men killed and wounded, 
Sub-Lieutenant Du Boulay took command of the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 211 

ship. Finding himself the only unwounded man on 
deck, Able-Seaman Ernest Dimmock immediately 
went to the helm while Petty-OflScer Robert Chap- 
pell, himself dying, and with both legs shattered, 
worked to the last, as best he could, tending his 
fellow wounded on board. Meanwhile on land, ow- 
ing to the arrival of reinforcements and the skilful 
inundation of the flat country, the enemy's rush was 
finally checked, and the position more or less estab- 
lished early in November. 

Such was the high standard set at the outset by 
the Dover Patrol; and, under Vice-Admiral Sir Regi- 
nald H. Bacon, who succeeded Rear-Admiral Hood 
in the following April, it was not only worthily sus- 
tained, but finally established beyond challenge — the 
development of Dunkirk as an additional offensive 
base, being one of the great achievements of the war. 
Thus, in spite of its ever more arduous and multi- 
tudinous duties — and it is mteresting to remember 
that this was the command in which Nelson was the 
least successful and most ill at ease — it had been en- 
gaged, by the end of 1915, in no less than fourteen 
concerted actions. Knocke, Heyst, Zeebrugge, Os- 
tend, Middlekerke, and Westende had been severally 
attacked; three military factories, two ammunition 
depots, storehouses, and signalling stations had been 
destroyed; considerable damage had been done to 
che wharves and the famous Mole at Zeebrugge; thir- 
teen large guns had been put out of action; and a 
dredger, a torpedo-boat, and two submarines sunk. 

During this time the only British losses were three 
vessels sunk; and their very names indicate the ex- 



212 THE HEROIC RECOUD 

tent and variety of the marine resources that were 
to prove our salvation. The armed yacht Sanda, 
the pleasure steamer Brighton Queen, once so often 
thronged with cross-channel trippers, and the drifter 
Great Heart — these were the first casualties of the 
Dover Patrol. That they were so few was due in 
large measure to the vigilance and seamanship of 
three men, of Commodore C. D. Johnston in com- 
mand of the Dover destroyers; of Captain F. G. Bird 
in charge of the drifters; and of Commander W. Rigg, 
who was chiefly responsible for the early organization 
of the mine-sweepers; while to Wing-Commander 
Longmore of the Dunkirk aerodrome must be as- 
signed much of the credit for checking the enemy's 
aircraft. Had they not been supported, however, by 
the cheerful fidelity and amazing competence of their 
subordinates, they could have achieved but little as 
was generously recognized by Vice-Admiral Bacon in 
his first official despatch. 

"Their Lordships will appreciate," he wrote, "the 
difficulties attendant on the cruising in company by 
day and night under war conditions of a fleet of 
eighty vessels comprising several widely different 
classes, manned partly by trained naval ratings, but 
more largely by officers of the naval reserve, whose 
fleet training has necessarily been scant, and by men 
whose work in life has hitherto been that of deep sea 
fishermen. The protection of such a moving fleet 
by the destroyers in waters which are the natural 
home of the enemy's submarines, has been admirable, 
and Justifies the training and organization of the 
personnel of the flotilla. But more remarkable still, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 213 

in my opinion, is the aptitude shown by the officers 
and crews of the drifters and trawlers, which, in diffi- 
cult waters, under conditions totally strange to them, 
have maintained their allotted stations without a 
single accident. Moreover, these men under fire have 
exhibited a coolness well worthy of the 'personnel of 
a service inured by discipline. The results show how 
deeply sea adaptability is ingrained in the seafaring 
race of these islands." 

Those are words that, if they were true of the first 
sea-recruits of 1914, are equally, and, in some re- 
spects, more astonishingly applicable to the thou- 
sands that subsequently joined them from all ranks. 
Of these earlier candidates for sea service, none was 
more typical than Lieutenant-Commander H. T. 
Gartside Tipping, the oldest naval officer then afloat 
and one of the first to perish in the Narrow Seas. 
Having retired from the navy, with the rank of 
lieutenant, thirty-five years before the outbreak of 
war, Lieutenant-Commander Tipping had inherited a 
small estate, including a yacht, in the Isle of Wight. 
Here he had lived a quiet country life, ardently de- 
voted to yacht racing; had kept himself alert and 
physically fit; and, at the age of sixty-six, having 
rejoined his old service and been given the rank of 
lieutenant-commander, had gladly and efficiently 
served under officers who might almost have been his 
grandsons. 

To such a man as Lieutenant-Commander Tipping, 
however, the call of the sea may quite understand- 
ably have been imperative. Far less foretellable, and 
only to be explained, surely, by the racial instinct re- 



214 THE HEROIC RECORD 

ferred to by Admiral Bacon, was the later phenome- 
non of expert sailors quartering the seas in fast patrol- 
boats, who, but a year or two before, had been farmers 
or commercial travellers, or clerks behind counters in 
London shops. Christened in naval fashion by their 
professional brothers with various opprobious nick- 
names, these were in reality but the affectionate sym- 
bols of the older navy's pride in its temporary junior 
partners; and the best measure of their work — neces- 
sarily undramatic, as all preventive work must largely 
be — is a survey of what the enemy was unable to 
accomplish n any representative period of the war. 
Let us take, for example, the six months before the 
Battle of Jutland, in its middle period. In that half 
year, through the Dover Patrol alone, there passed 
21,000 merchant ships, and of these only 21 were lost 
or seriously damaged as the result of enemy action- 
little less than one in every thousand, entrusted to 
the case of this particular command. More remark- 
able still, perhaps, since these were inevitably, of 
course, the enemy's constant and most tempting tar- 
get, not a single transport or one soldier's life was lost 
at sea during the same time. 

Such had been the record, then, of the Dover Patrol 
up to the events described in the last chapter — events 
that, as we have shown, drove Germany's naval ac- 
tivity, for its main efforts, under the water, and con- 
fined it afloat to those tip-and-run raids of which that 
of the following February may be taken as typical. 
It was on Sunday night, February 25th, soon after 
eleven o'clock, that a number of star-shells suddenly 
broke in the sky over the Isle of Thanet, illuminating 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 215 

the coast for a long distance and bringing many of its 
inhabitants to their windows. Almost simultaneously 
a brisk bombardment revealed the presence of a flo- 
tilla of Geiman destroyers — Margate, Broadstairs, 
and a little hamlet between them, being subjected to 
the enemy's fire. Fortunately the casualties were 
few, and there was no military damage — ^none of the 
places attacked being fortified towns — ^but a woman 
and a child were killed and two children seriously 
wounded, and a dozen houses wrecked or injured. A 
single British destroyer pluckily engaged the enemy, 
who was soon lost to sight in the darkness, neither the 
British vessel nor any of the raiders suffering, as far 
as was known, any serious hurt. 

For this enemy success, if such it can be called, and 
for one or two previous ones of a like nature, there 
was considerable criticism of the Dover Patrol, chiefly 
of an ignorant and hasty character. With the Ger- 
mans at Zeebrugge and Ostend, and in favourable 
conditions of weather and darkness, it was obviously 
out of the question to give mmutable guarantees 
against occasional excursions such as these; and that 
these brief and lawless bombardments reflected no 
lack of spirit on the part of the Patrol, the Dover 
destroyers Swift and Broke were soon triumphantly 
to demonstrate. 

This was in the small hours of the dark morning 
of April 21, 1917, some of the German destroyers 
having crept into the Straits and shelled both Dover 
and Calais. In the case of the former town there 
were no casualties, but over a hundred shells were 
thrown into Calais, several people being killed, others 



216 THE HEROIC RECORD 

injured, and a good many houses being destroyed. 
Out on patrol and near mid-channel steaming west- 
ward, were the Swift and Broke, the Swift leading 
under Commander Ambrose Peck, and the Broke in 
charge of Commander E. R. Evans. Of the two ves- 
sels, soon to become immortal, the Swift was seven 
years the older, having been launched at Birkenhead 
in 1907 from the yards of Messrs. Cammel Laird. She 
had a displacement of 1,800 tons and carried four 
4-inch guns. The Broke, on the other hand, had only 
jujst been completed before the outbreak of war, and, 
although approximately of the same dimensions, car- 
ried six 4-inch guns and three torpedo-tubes. By a 
remarkable coincidence, in view of what was to come, 
she bore the name of that Sir Philip Broke who com- 
manded the Shannon during her historic duel in the 
spring of 1813, with the Chesapeake, when the latter 
was captured, after a most heroic resistance, during 
a hand-to-hand struggle on her deck. Commander 
Evans was, of course, the famous Polar explorer, who 
had been second-in-command to the ill-fated Captain 
Scott. 

The sea was quite calm, but, in the black night, it 
was impossible to see more than half a mile ahead; 
and the enemy vessels were but six hundred yards dis- 
tant when they were spotted by the destroyers* look- 
outs. Six in number, and including amongst them 
some of the fastest destroyers in the world, they were 
then on the port bow and travelling at high speed in 
an opposite direction to that of the Swift and Broke; 
and, almost simultaneously, they became aware of 
the presence of the two Britishers. Instantly they 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 217 

sounded their fire-gongs, and, six to two, opened rapid 
fire. A minute before and the Swift and Broke had 
been respectable members of a gallant flotilla. Ten 
minutes later — such is the luck of the sea — and they 
had written their names forever in British naval 
history. 

"Wheeling round almost at right angles to her pre- 
vious course, and in the face of the point-blank fire 
and dazzling flashes of the enemy's guns; with a 
target before her little more than 300 feet long and 
racing through the darkness at nearly thirty miles 
an hour; with the practical certainty, if she missed 
this, of being herself rammed by the next in the line; 
regardless of the odds, the Swift hurled herself at the 
first visible German destroyer. So instant had been 
the decision of the Swift's commander, that it might 
almost have been called automatic — the natural re- 
sponse not only of a lifetime's schooling, but of all 
the centuries behind this of British admiralty. Hit or 
miss, it was a sporting chance, the chance of a lifetime, 
and he took it. Alas, it was a miss, but such a nar- 
row one that he himself cut through without disaster, 
swung round to port, torpedoed another of the six, 
and then picked up and chased a third. 

Meanwhile the Broke, following the Swift, had put 
her helm over almost at the same moment; had suc- 
cessfully torpedoed one of the enemy line, literally 
plastering her with 4 -inch shells; and was now making 
to ram another — possibly the one that the Swift had 
missed. This she did, splitting her at full speed, 
burying her bows in her and crushing her dow»; and 
there then ensued such a fight as had scarcely been 



£18 THE HEROIC RECORD 

witnessed since the days of steam. With, a gun out 
of action and part of her bridge already carried away 
before she had rammed; with her helmsman bleeding 
from several wounds but sticking to his wheel as long 
as he was conscious; with the remaining enemy de- 
stroyers pouring their shells into her, and German 
sailors swarming into her forecastle — the Broke raked 
her prey with everything that could be fired from a 
4-inch gun to an automatic pistol. 

By now, however, several Germans had gained 
their footing on deck, where Midshipman Gyles had 
been working the forward guns; and, for a few sec- 
onds, half blind with blood, and almost alone, he met 
the rush. Then a huge German seized his pistol- 
wrist and tried to wrench the weapon away from him, 
only to be struck at and thwarted by Petty-Officer 
Woodfield and finally cutlassed by Able Seaman In- 
gelson. With cutlasses and pistols the decks were 
then cleared, and a couple of hiding Germans made 
prisoners, and half a minute later the Broke freed her- 
self from the German destroyer. With the Swift 
still chasing the enemy that she had marked down, 
and with two others put out of action, the Broke now 
turned her attention to the remainder and attempted 
to ram yet one more. In this she failed — she had 
been struck in the boiler-room and was becoming diffi- 
cult to mancKuvre — but loosed a torpedo at the de- 
stroyer nearest to her, and was successful in hitting 
her. 

The enemy was now in full flight, but the disabled 
Broke succeeded in drawing level with one of the 
burning destroyers. Rapidly losing way, she never- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 219 

theless approached her at considerable risk to her- 
self, the enemy, who had previously been shouting 
for help, suddenly and unexpectedly opening fire — an 
act of treachery that, as it proved, merely hastened 
his end. Four rounds silenced him, and a torpedo 
aimed amidships struck him fairly and settled his 
fate. 

Meanwhile the Swift, herself partially disabled, 
had lost touch with the vanishing enemy, and, coming 
about, had sighted the destroyer rammed by the 
Broke and now on the verge of sinking. Here, too, 
the sailors on board were chorussing their desire to 
surrender; but, w th natural suspicion, the Swift re- 
mained on guard, her guns trained on the sinking ves- 
sel. Presently this heeled over; the crew took to the 
water; and, as there seemed to be no other enemy 
vessel in sight, the Swift cautiously switched on her 
searchlights, lowered her boats, and began the work 
of rescue. At the same time the BroJce began to sig- 
nal to her — the whole fight had lasted barely five 
minutes — and the two crews were soon cheering each 
other, as well they might. 

Both the destroyers sunk were four-funnelled ves- 
sels of the fastest and latest German type; two others 
had been crippled; and over a hundred men and offi- 
cers taken prisoners. When the Broke rammed, as 
her helmsman had said, "I smiled for the first time 
during the action" — and that smile may be taken as 
representative not only of both ships' companies but 
of the town of Dover on that April morning, when the 
two destroyers, saluted by everything in the harbour, 
modestly crept to their buoys. 



220 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Brilliant as this little action was, however, and typi- 
cal both of the ineptitude with which the German 
destroyer-service was handled, and the prestige that 
the Dover Patrol had built up for itself during the 
war, it was but an incident of the ceaseless campaign, 
waged with almost every weapon in the Narrow Seas. 
Thus, while the coastal bombardments that had been 
so prominent a feature of the earlier months of the 
war were, for military reasons, deemed inadvisable 
during 1916 and 1917, an active blockade of the 
occupied Flanders area was maintained and vigor- 
ously pressed home. 

Not only was the minefield that had been laid down 
when the North Sea was first closed continually added 
to, but other barrages were always being thought out 
and improved as necessity demanded. Thus, in 1916, 
twenty miles of nets had been laid parallel to the 
Belgian coast, and, in the winter of the same year, 
another had been constructed from the Goodwins to 
Dunkirk. This was somewhat difficult to keep in or- 
der, but the Belgian nets were renewed in 1917, and, 
in November and December of the same year, 4,000 
mines were laid between Folkestone and Boulogne. 
These were of the latest type, and, with further addi- 
tions, together with a system of flares and day and 
night patrols, developed into a barrier against which, 
in the end, the German submarines beat in vain — 
at least seventeen of these being certainly kn-own to 
have fallen victims to its efficiency. 

Second only in naval importance to the Grand 
Fleet, and in even more strenuous contact with the 
enemy, none had more cause, perhaps, to bless the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 221 

Dover Patrol, of whose unadvertised work this is but 
the barest outline, than those 2,000,000 soldiers, for 
whom, each year, it acted as crossing-sweeper, on 
their way home to England. 



CHAPTER X 

THE SEALING OF ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND 

MANIFOLD as were the duties, and various as 
was the composition of the Dover Patrol, it 
was in the sealing of Zeebrugge and Ostend 
— among the last naval operations of the war — ^that 
its qualities of enterprise, courage, and ingenuity 
found their most notable expression. How the pos- 
session of these places advantaged the enemy has 
already been indicated in the last chapter; and their 
continual threat to our communications was a suffi- 
cient justification of the proposed attempt. But it 
was not the only one, as a brief consideration of the 
general position will show. Robbed of these two 
ports, or with their usefulness so impaired as to render 
them abortive, the enemy would be thrown back, 
from the offensive standpoint, upon his Frisian estu- 
aries, some three hundred miles distant; while the 
duties of the Patrol would be so sensibly lightened as 
to release an appreciable number of mosquito-craft. 
There would in fact be fewer exits to watch; these 
would be more distant by many hours' steaming; and 
there would at once be placed at our disposal more 
forces with which to watch them. 

On the other hand, it was an enterprise as liable to 
complete disaster as any that could easily have been 

222 



THE BRITISH NAVY 223 

imagined; and but little instruction and no great en- 
couragement could be drawn from similar adventures 
in the past. Though scarcely comparable, perhaps. 
Nelson's expedition against Boulogne, while com- 
manding in the Straits, had lamentably failed, result- 
ing in the death of his close friend and valued su- 
bordinate. Captain Parker ; while the sinking of block- 
ships both by Lieutenant Hobson at Santiago in the 
Spanish-American War, and by the Japanese at Port 
Arthur in their campaign against Russia, had shown 
how innumerable were the possible mischances that 
could rob such efforts of success. 

Nor had our own experiences, during the war, 
againstiland-fortifications, been very satisfactory; and 
both Zeebrugge and Ostend, and particularly the 
former, were, as was well known, armed to the teeth. 
On the other hand, neither was a natural harbour. 
Each had been carved, as it were, out of the sand; 
and, given but a chance, nature was always ready to 
obliterate the channels upon which they depended. 
Let us consider for a moment the problem that they 
presented to an Admiralty desirous of sealing them. 

Situated on the Belgian coast, some twelve miles 
apart and facing a little to the west of north, each 
was in reality but a sea-gate of the inland port of 
Bruges — the latter being the station to which the 
enemy destroyers and submarines were sent in parts 
from the German workshops; where they were assem- 
bled; and whence, by canal, they proceeded to sea by 
way of Zeebrugge and Ostend. Of these two exits, 
Zeebrugge, the northernmost, was considerably the 
nearer to Bruges and the more important — ^Zeebrugge 



224 THE HEROIC EECORD 

being eight, while Ostend was eleven miles distant 
from their common base — and to receive an adequate 
impression of what was subsequently achieved there 
it is necessary to bear in mind its salient features. 

Unlike Ostend, apart from its harbour, it possessed 
no civic importance, merely consisting of a few streets 
of houses clustering about its railway-station, locks, 
wharves, and store-houses, its sandy roadstead being 
guarded from the sea by an immensely powerful cres- 
centic Mole. It was into this roadstead that the 
Bruges canal opened between heavy timbered break- 
waters, having first passed through a sea-lock, some 
half a mile higher up. Between the two light-houses, 
each about twenty feet above high-water level, that 
stood upon the ends of these breakwaters, the canal 
was 200 yards wide, narrowing to a width, in the lock 
itself, of less than seventy feet. 

Leading from the canal entrance to the tip of the 
Mole, on which stood a third light-house, and so out 
to sea, was a curved channel, about three-quarters 
of a mile long, kept clear by continual dredging; and 
this was protected both by a string of armed barges 
and by a system of nets on its shoreward side. It was 
in its great sea-wall, however, some eighty yards 
broad and more than a mile long, that Zeebrugge's 
chief strength resided; and this had been utilized, 
since the German occupation, to the utmost extent. 
Upon the seaward end of it, near the light-house, a 
battery of 6-inch guns had been mounted, other bat- 
teries and machine-guns being stationed at various 
points throughout its length. With a parapet along 
its outer side, some sixteen feet higher than the level 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 225 

of the rest of the Mole, it not only carried a railway- 
hne but contained a seaplane shed, and shelters for 
stores and 'personnel. It was connected with the 
shore by a light wood and steel viaduct — a pile-work 
structure, allowing for the passage of the through- 
current necessary to prevent silting. 

Emplaced upon the shore, on either side of this, 
were further batteries of heavy guns; while, to the 
north of the canal entrance, and at a point almost op- 
posite to the tip of the Mole, was the Goeben Fort 
containing yet other guns covering both the Mole 
and the harbour. Under the lee of the parapet were 
dug-outs for the defenders, while, under of the lee of 
the Mole itself was a similar shelter for the enemy's 
submarines and destroyers. Nor did this exhaust the 
harbour's defences, since it was further protected not 
only by minefields but by natural shoals, always diffi- 
cult to navigate, and infinitely more so in the absence 
of beacons. 

Even to a greater extent was this last feature true 
of Ostend, though here the whole problem was some- 
what simpler, there being no Mole, and therefore no 
necessity — though equally no opportunity — for a sub- 
sidiary attack. Covered, of course, from the shore 
by guns of all calibres — and here it should be remem- 
bered that there were 225 of these between Nieuport 
and the Dutch frontier — the single object in this case 
was to gain the entrance, before the lock-ships should 
be discovered by the enemy, and sunk by his gunners 
where their presence would no do harm. Since for 
complete success, however, it was necessary to seal 
both places, and, if possible, to do so simultaneously. 



226 THE HEROIC RECORD 

it will readily be seen that, in the words of Sir Eric 
Geddes — the successor, as First Lord of the Admiral- 
ty, to Mr. Balfour and Sir Edward Carson — it was 
"a particularly intricate operation which had to be 
worked strictly to time-table." It was also one that, 
for several months before, required the most arduous 
and secret toil. 

Begun in 1917 while Sir John Jellicoe was still First 
Sea Lord, the plan ultimately adopted — there had 
been several previous ones, dropped for military rea- 
sons — was devised by Vice-Admiral Roger Keyes, 
then head of the Plans Division at the Admiralty. 
From the first t was realized of course, by all con- 
cerned that the element of surprise would be the de- 
termining factor; and it was therefore decided that 
the attempt to block the harbours should take place 
at night. It was also clear that, under modern con- 
ditions of star-shells and searchlights, an extensive 
use would have to be made of the recent art of throw- 
ing out smoke-screens; and fortunately, in Com- 
mander Brock, Admiral Keyes had at his disposal 
just the man to supply this need. A Wing-Com- 
mander in the Royal Naval Air Service, in private life 
Commander Brock was a partner in a well-known 
firm of fire- work makers; and his inventive ability 
had already been fruitful in more than one direction. 
A first-rate pilot and excellent shot. Commander 
Brock was a typical English sportsman; and his sub- 
sequent death during the operations, for whose suc- 
cess he had been so largely responsible, was a loss 
of the gravest description both to the navy and the 
empire. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 227 

The next consideration was the choosing of the 
block-ships, and for these the following vessels were 
at last selected — the Sirius and Brilliant to be sunk at 
Ostend, and the Thetis, Iphigenia, and Intrepid to 
seal the canal entrance at Zeebrugge. These were all 
old cruisers, and they were to be filled with cement, 
which when submerged would turn into concrete, 
fuses being so placed that they could be sunk by 
explosion as soon as they had reached the desired 
position; and it was arranged that motor-launches 
should accompany them in order to rescue their 
crews. Unfortunately Lieutenant Ivan B. Franks, 
who was responsible for the block-ships, was laid 
aside, the day before the event, by an attack of ap- 
pendicitis, and, at his urgent request, his duties were 
imdertaken by his friend. Lieutenant - Billyard- 
Leake — a very able young oflScer, then barely twenty- 
two years of age. 

So far these general arrangements were applicable 
to both places; but, as regarded Zeebrugge, it was de- 
cided to make a diversion in the shape of a subsidiary 
attack on the Mole, in which men were to be landed 
and to do as much damage as possible. Such an at- 
tack, it was thought, would help to draw the enemy's 
attention from the main effort, which was to be 
the sinking of the block-ships, and, apart from this, 
would have valuable results both material and moral. 
For this secondary operation, three other vessels 
were especially selected and fitted out — two Liver- 
pool ferry-boats, the Iris and Daffodil, obtained by 
Captain Grant, not without some difficulty, owing to 
the natural reluctance of the Liverpool authorities 



228 THE HEROIC RECORD 

and the impossibility of divulging the object for 
which they were wanted — and the old cruiser Vindic- 
tive. This latter vessel had been designed as a "ram" 
ship more than twenty years before, displacing about 
5,000 tons and capable of a speed of some twenty 
knots. She had no armour-belt, but her bow was 
covered with plates two inches thick and extending 
fourteen feet aft, while her deck was also protected 
by hardened plates, covered with nickel steel, from a 
half to two inches thick. Originally undergunned, 
she had subsequently been provided with ten 6-inch 
guns and eight 12-pounders. 

This was the vessel chosen to convey the bulk of 
the landing-party, and, for many weeks, under the 
supervision of Commander E. O. B. S. Osborne, the 
carpenters and engineers were hard at work upon her. 
An additional high deck, carrying thirteen brows or 
gangways, was fitted upon her port side; pom-poms 
and machine-guns were placed in her fighting- top; 
and she was provided with three howitzers and some 
Stokes mortars. A special flame-throwing cabin, 
fitted with speaking tubes, was built beside the 
bridge, and another on the port quarter. 

It was thus to be the task of the Vindictive and her 
consorts to lay themselves alongside the Mole, land 
storming and demolition-parties, and protect these 
by a barrage as they advanced down the Mole; and, 
in order to make this attack more effective, yet a 
third operation was designed. This was to cut off the 
Mole from the mainland, thus isolating its defenders 
and preventing the arrival of reinforcements; and, in 
order to do so, it was decided to blow up the viaduct 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 229 

by means of an old submarine charged with high 
explosives. Meanwhile, the whole attempt was to be 
supported from out at sea by a continuous bombard- 
ment from a squadron of monitors; seaplanes and 
aeroplanes, weather permitting, were to render fur- 
ther assistance; and flotillas of destroyers were to 
shepherd the whole force and to hold the flanks 
against possible attack. 

This then was the plan of campaign, one of the 
most daring ever conceived, and all the more so in 
face of the difficulty of keeping it concealed from the 
enemy during the long period of preparation — a diffi- 
culty enhanced in that it was not only necessary to 
inform each man of his particular role, but of the 
particular objectives of each attack and the general 
outline of the whole scheme. That was unavoidable 
since it was more than likely that, during any one of 
the component actions, every officer might be killed 
or wounded and the men themselves become re- 
sponsible. Nor was it possible, even approximately, 
to fix a date for the enterprise, since this could only be 
carried out under particular conditions of wind and 
weather. Thus the night must be dark and the 
sea calm; the arrival on the other side must be at 
high water; and there must above all things be a 
following wind, since, without this, the smoke-screens 
would be useless. Twice, when all was ready, these 
conditions seemed to have come, and twice, after a 
start had been made, the expedition had to return; 
and it was not until April 22, 1918, that the final 
embarkation took place. 

By this time Vice-Admiral Keyes had succeeded 



230 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Vice- Admiral Bacon in command of the Dover Patrol; 
and he was therefore in personal charge of the great 
adventure that he had initiated and planned with 
such care. Every man under him was not only a 
volunteer fully aware of what he was about to face, 
but a picked man, selected and judged by as high a 
standard, perhaps, as the world could have provided. 
Flying his own flag on the destroyer Warwick, Ad- 
miral Keyes had entrusted the Vindictive to Acting 
Captain A. F. B. Carpenter, the Iris and the Daffodil 
being in the hands respectively of Commander Valen- 
tine Gibbs and Lieutenant Harold Campbell. The 
Marines, consisting of three companies of the Royal 
Marine Light Infantry and a hundred men of the 
Royal Marine Artillery, had been drawn from the 
Grand Fleet, the Chatham, Portsmouth, and Devon- 
port Depots, and were commanded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Bertram Elliot. The three block-ships that 
were to be sunk at Zeebrugge, the Thetis, Intrepid, 
and Iphigenia, were in charge of Commander Ralph 
S. Sneyd, Lieutenant Stuart Bonham-Carter, and 
Lieutenant E. W. Billy ard-Leake; while the old sub- 
marine CS that was to blow up the viaduct was 
commanded by Lieutenant R. D. Sandford. In con- 
trol of the motor-launches allotted to the attack on 
Zeebrugge, was Admiral Keyes' flag-captain, Captain 
R. Collins, those at Ostend being directed by Com- 
mander Hamilton Benn, M.P. — the operations at the 
latter place being in charge of Commodore Hubert 
Lynes. Also acting in support was a large body of 
coastal motor-boats under Lieutenant A. E. P. Well- 
man, and a flotilla of destroyers under Captain Wil- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 231 

fred Tomkinson, the general surveying of the whole 
field of attack — including the fixing of targets and 
firing-points — being in the skilful hands of Com- 
mander H. P. Douglas and Lieutenant-Commander 
F. E. B. Haselfoot. 

Included among the monitors were the Erebus and 
Terror, each mounting 15-inch guns, to operate at 
Zeebrugge; and the Prince Eugene, General Crauford, 
and Lord Clive, carrying 12-inch guns, and the Mar- 
shal Soult, carrying 15-inch guns, to assist at Ostend. 
To the old Vindictive Admiral Keyes had presented a 
horse-shoe that had been nailed for luck to her centre 
funnel; and, to the whole fleet, on its way across, 
he signalled the message, "St. George for England." 
Few who received that message expected to return 
unscathed, and in the block-ships none; but it is 
safe to say that, in the words of Nelson, they would 
not have been elsewhere that night for thousands. 

Such then were the forces that, on this still dark 
night, safely arrived at their first rendezvous and then 
parted on their perilous ways, some to Zeebrugge and 
some to Ostend. It was at a point about fifteen 
miles from the Belgian coast that the two parties sepa- 
rated; and, since it is impossible to follow them both 
at once, let us confine ourselves at first to the former. 
Theirs was the more complicated, though, as it after- 
ward proved, the more swiftly achieved task, the 
first to arrive on the scene of action, almost at the 
stroke of midnight, being the old cruiser Vindictive 
with her two stout little attendants. These, she had 
been towing as far as the rendezvous; but, at this 
point, she had cast them off, and they were now 



232 THE HEROIC RECORD 

following her, under their own steam, to assist in 
berthing her and to land their own parties. Ahead 
of them the small craft had been laying their smoke- 
screens, the northeast wind rolling these shoreward, 
while already the monitors could be heard at work 
bombarding the coast defences with their big guns. 
Accustomed as he was to such visitations, this had 
not aroused in the enemy any particular alarm; and 
it was not until the Vindictive and the two ferry-boats 
were within 400 yards of the Mole that the off-shore 
wind caused the smoke-screen to lift somewhat and left 
them exposed to the enemy. By this time the Marines 
and bluejackets, ready to spring ashore, were mus- 
tered on the lower and main decks ; while Colonel Elliot, 
Major Cordner, and Captain Chater, who were to lead 
the Marines, and Captain Halahan, who was in charge 
of the bluejackets, were waiting on the high false deck. 
It was a crucial moment, for there could be no 
mistaking now what was the Vindictive' s intention. 
The enemy's star-shells, soaring into the sky, broke 
into a baleful and crimson light; while his search- 
lights, that had been wavering through the darkness, 
instantly sprang together and fastened upon the three 
vessels. This, as Captain Carpenter afterward con- 
fessed, induced "an extraordinarily naked feeling," 
and then, from every gun that could be brought to 
bear, both from the Mole and the coast, there burst 
upon her such a fire as, given another few minutes, 
must inevitably have sunk her. Beneath it Colonel 
Elliot, Major Cordner, and Captain Halahan, all fell 
slain; while Captain Carpenter himself had the nar- 
rowest escape from destruction. His cap — he had 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 233 

left his best one at home — was two or three times 
over pierced by bullets, as was the case of his binocu- 
lars, slung by straps over his back; while, during the 
further course of the action, both his searchlight and 
smoke-goggles were smashed. 

The surprise had so far succeeded, however, that, 
within less than five minutes, the Vindidive's bow 
was against the side of the Mole, and all but her 
upper works consequently protected from the sever- 
est of the enemy's fire. Safe — or comparatively so — 
as regarded her water-line, she was nevertheless still 
a point-blank target; her funnels were riddled over 
and over again, the one carrying the horse-shoe suf- 
fering least; the signal-room was smashed and the 
bridge blown to pieces, just as Commander Carpenter 
entered the flame-throwing cabin; and this in its 
turn, drawing the enemy's fire, was soon twisted and 
splintered in all directions. It was now raining; 
explosion followed explosion till the whole air quaked 
as if in torment; and meanwhile a new and unforeseen 
danger had just made itself apparent. Till the har- 
bour was approached, the sea had been calm, but 
now a ground-swell was causing a "scend" against 
the Mole, adding tenfold not only to the difficulties 
of landing, but of maintaining the Vindictive at her 
berth. In this emergency, it was the little Daffodil 
that rose to and saved the situation. Her primary 
duty, although she carried a landing-party, had been 
to push the Vindictive in until the latter had been 
secured; but, as matters were, she had to hold her 
against the Mole throughout the whole hour and a 
quarter of her stay there. Even so, the improvised 



234 THE HEROIC RECORD 

gangways that had been thrust out from the false 
deck were now some four feet up in the air and now 
crashing down from the top of the parapet; and it 
was across these brows, spHntering under their feet, 
and in face of a fire that baffled description, that 
the Marines and bluejackets had to scramble ashore 
with their Lewis guns, hand-grenades, and bayonets. 
Under such conditions, once a man fell, there was 
but little hope of his regaining his feet; and it was 
only a lucky chance that saved one of the officers 
from being thus trodden to death. This was Lieu- 
tenant H. T. C. Walker, who, with an arm blown 
away, had stumbled and fallen on the upper deck, the 
eager storming parties sweeping over him until he was 
happily discovered and dragged free. Let it be said 
at once that Lieutenant Walker bore no malice, and 
waved them good luck with his remaining arm. The 
command of the Marines had now devolved upon 
Major Weller; and, of the 300 or so who followed him 
ashore, more than half were soon to be casualties. 
But the landing was made good; the awkward drop 
from the parapet was successfully negotiated thanks 
to the special scaling-ladders; the barrage was put 
down; and they were soon at hand-to-hand grips 
with such of the German defenders as stayed to face 
them. Many of these were in the dug-outs under the 
parapets, but, seeing that to remain there was only 
to be bayoneted, they made a rush for some of their 
own destroyers that were hugging the lee of the Mole. 
But few reached these, however, thanks to the vigour 
of the Marines, and the fire of the machine-guns from 
the Vindictive' s top, while one of the destroyers was 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 235 

damaged by hand-grenades and by shells lobbed over 
the Mole from the Vindictive' s mortars. 

Meanwhile the Vindictive was still the object of a 
fire that was rapidly dismantling all of her that was 
visible. A shell in her fighting-top killed every man 
at the guns there except Sergeant Finch of the Royal 
Marine Artillery, who was badly wounded, but who 
extricated himself from a pile of corpses, and worked 
his gun for a while single-handed. Another shell, 
bursting forward, put the whole of a howitzer crew 
out of action, and yet a third, finding the same place, 
destroyed the crew that followed. 

Fierce as was the ordeal through which the Vin- 
dictive was passing, however, that of the Iris was even 
more so. Unprotected, as was her fellow the Daffodil, 
boring against the side of the larger Vindictive, the 
7m, with her landing-party, was trying to make good 
her berth lower down the Mole, ahead of Captain 
Carpenter. Unfortunately the grapnels with which 
she had been provided proved to be ineffective owing 
to the *'scend"; and, with the little boat tossing up 
and down, and under the fiercest fire, two of the offi- 
cers, Lieutenant-Commander Bradford and Lieuten- 
ant Hawkins, climbed ashore to try and make them 
fast. Both were killed before they succeeded, top- 
pling into the water between the Mole and the ship, 
while, a little later, a couple of shells burst aboard 
with disastrous results. One of these, piercing the 
deck, exploded among a party of Marines, waiting for 
the gangways to be thrust out, killing forty-nine and 
wounding seven; while another, wrecking the ward- 
room, killed four officers and twenty-six men. Her 



236 THE HEROIC EECORD 

captain, Commander Gibbs, had both his legs blown 
away, and died in a few hours, the Iris having been 
forced meanwhile to change her position, and take up 
another astern of the Vindictive. 

Before this happened, however, every man aboard 
her, as aboard the Vindictive, Daffodil, and upon the 
Mole, had been thrilled to the bone by the gigantic 
explosion that had blown up the viaduct lower down. 
With a deafening roar and a gush of flame leaping up 
hundreds of yards into the night. Lieutenant Sand- 
ford had told them the good tidings of his success with 
the old submarine. Creeping toward the viaduct, 
with his little crew on deck, he had made straight for 
an aperture between the steel-covered piles, and to the 
blank amazement and apparent paralysis of the Ger- 
mans crowded upon the viaduct, had rammed in the 
submarine up to her conning-tower before lighting 
the fuse that was to start the explosion. 

Before himself doing this, he had put off a boat, 
his men needing no orders to tumble into her, followed 
by their commander, as soon as the fuse was fired, 
with the one idea of getting away as far as possible. 
As luck would have it, the boat's propeller fouled, 
and they had to rely for safety upon two oars only, 
pulling, as Lieutenant Sandford afterward described 
it, as hard as men ever pulled before. Raked by 
machine-gun fire and with shells plunging all round 
them, most of them, including Lieutenant Sandford, 
were wounded; but they were finally borne to safety 
by an attendant picket-boat under his brother Lieu- 
tenant-Commander F. Sandford. 

That had taken place about fifteen minutes after 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 237 

the Vindictive and her consorts had reached their 
berths, and a few minutes before the block-ships, 
with Thetis leading, had rounded the light-house at 
the tip of the Mole. In order to assist these to find 
their bearings, an employee of Commander Brock, 
who had never before been to sea, had for some time 
been firing rockets from the after cabin of the Vin- 
dictive; and presently they came in sight, exposed, as 
the Vindictive had been, by the partial blowing-back 
of their smoke-screen. Steaming straight ahead for 
their objectives, they were therefore opposed by the 
in tensest fire; and the spirit in which they proceeded 
is well illustrated by what had just taken place on 
board the Intrepid. It had been previously arranged 
that, for the final stage of their journey, the crews of 
the block-ships should be reduced to a minimum; but, 
when the moment came to disembark the extra men, 
those on the Intrepid, so anxious were they to remain, 
actually hid themselves away. Many of them did in 
fact succeed in remaining, and sailed with their com- 
rades into the canal. 

The first to draw the enemy's fire, the Thetis, had 
the misfortune, having cleared the armed barges, to 
foul the nests — bursting through the gate and carry- 
ing this with her, but with her propellers gathering 
in the meshes and rendering her helpless. Heavily 
shelled, she was soon in a sinking condition, and Com- 
mander Sneyd was obliged to blow her charges, but 
not before he had given the line, with the most 
deliberate coolness, to the two following block-ships 
— Lieutenant Littleton, in a motor-launch, then res- 
cuing the crew. 



238 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Following the Thetis came the Intre'pid, with all her 
guns in full action, and Lieutenant Bonham-Carter 
pushed her right into the canal up to a point actually 
behind some of the German batteries. Here he ran 
her nose into the western bank, ordered his crew 
away, and blew her up, the engineer remaining down 
below in order to be able to report results. These 
being satisfactory, and everyone having left. Lieuten- 
ant Bonham-Carter committed himself to a Carley 
float — a kind of lifebuoy that, on contact with the 
water, automatically ignited a calcium flare. Illu- 
mined by this, the Intrepid'' s commander found him- 
self the target of a machine-gun on the bank, and, 
but for the smoke still pouring from the Intrepid, he 
would probably have been killed before the launch 
could rescue him. 

Meanwhile, the Iphigenia, close behind, had been 
equally successful under more difficult conditions. 
With the Intrepid's smoke blowing back upon her^ 
she had found it exceedingly hard to keep her course, 
and had rammed a dredger with a barge moored to it, 
pushing the latter before her when she broke free. 
Lieutenant Billyard-Leake, however, was able to 
reach his objective — the eastern bank of the canal en- 
trance — and here he sank her in good position, with 
her engines still working to keep her in place. Both 
vessels were thus left lying well across the canal, as 
aeroplane photographs afterward confirmed; and 
thanks to the persistent courage of Lieutenant Percy 
Dean, the crews of both block-ships were safely re- 
moved. 

With the accompanying motor-launch unhappily 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 239 

sunk as she was going in, Lieutenant Dean, under fire 
from all sides, often at a range of but a few feet, em- 
barked in Motor-Launch 282 no less than 101 officers 
and men. He then started for home, but, learning 
that there was an officer still in the water, at once 
returned and rescued him, three men being shot at 
his side as he handled his little vessel. Making a 
second start, just as he cleared the canal entrance, 
his steering-gear broke down; and he had to ma- 
noeuvre by means of his engines, hugging the side of 
the Mole to keep out of range of the guns. Reaching 
the harbour mouth he then, by a stroke of luck, found 
himself alongside the destroyer Warwick, who was 
thus able to take on board and complete the rescue 
of the block-ships' crews. 

It was now nearly one o'clock on the morning of 
the 23d; the main objects of the attack had been 
secured; and Captain Carpenter, watching the course 
of events, decided that it was time to recall his land- 
ing-parties. It had been arranged to do so with the 
Vindictive' s syren, but this, like so much of her gear, 
was no longer serviceable; and it was necessary to 
have recourse to the Daffodil's little hooter, so feebly 
opposed to the roar of the guns. Throughout the 
whole operation, humble as her part had been, the 
Daffodil had been performing yeoman's service, and, 
but for the fine seamanship of Lieutenant Harold 
Campbell, and the efforts of her engine-room staff, it 
would have been quite impossible to re-embark the 
Marines and bluejackets from the Mole. In the nor- 
mal way her boilers developed some 80-lbs. steam- 
pressure per inch; but, for the work of holding the 



240 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Vindictive against the side of the Mole, it was neces- 
sary throughout to maintain double this pressure. 
All picked men, under Artificer-Engineer Sutton, the 
stokers held to their task in the ablest fashion; and, 
in ignorance of what was happening all about them, 
and to the muflOied accompaniment of bursting shells, 
they worked themselves out, stripped to their vests 
and trousers, to the last point of exhaustion. 

Nor did their colleagues on board the Vindictive fall 
in any degree short of the same high standard, as 
becomes clear from the account afterward given by 
one of her stokers, Alfred Dingle: "My pigeon," he 
said, "was in the boiler-room of the Vindictive, which 
left with the other craft at two o'clock on Tuesday 
afternoon. We were in charge of Chief Artificer- 
Engineer Campbell, who was formerly a merchant- 
service engineer and must have been specially selected 
for the job. He is a splendid fellow. At the start 
he told us what we were in for, and that before we 
had finished we should have to feed the fires like mad. 
*This ship was built at Chatham twenty years ago,' 
he said, *and her speed is 19 knots, but if you don't 
get 21 knots out of her when it is wanted, well — it's 
up to you to do it anyway.' We cheered, and he 
told us, when we got the order, to get at it for all we 
were worth and take no notice of anybody. We were 
all strong fellows, the whole thirteen of us. . . . 
The Vindictive was got to Zeebrugge; it was just be- 
fore midnight when we got alongside the Mole. We 
had gas-masks on then, and were stoking furiously 
all the time, with the artificer-engineer backing us up, 
and joking and keeping us in the best of spirits. No- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 241 

body could have been down-hearted while he was 
there. There is no need to say it was awful; you 
know something from the accounts in the papers, al- 
though no written accounts could make you under- 
stand what it was really like. . . . Well, there 
we were, bump, bump, bump against the Mole for I 
don't know how long, and all the time shells shrieking 
and crashing, rockets going up, and a din that was 
too awful for words, added to which were the cries 
and shrieks of wounded officers and men. . . . 
Several times Captain Carpenter came below and 
told us how things were going on. That was splendid 
of him, I think. He was full of enthusiasm, and 
cheered us up wonderfully. He was the same with 
the seamen and men on deck. ... I can't help 
admiring the Marines. They were a splendid lot of 
chaps, most of them seasoned men, whilst the blue- 
jackets (who were just as good) were generally quite 
young men. The Marines were bursting to get at the 
fight and were chafing under the delay all the time. 
. . . While we were alongside I was stoking and 
took off my gas-mask, as it was so much in the way., 
It was a silly thing to do, but I couldn't get on with 
the work with it on. Suddenly I smelt gas. I don't 
know whether it came from an ordinary shell, but I 
knew it was not from the smoke-screen, and you 
ought to have seen me nip round for the helmet. I 
forgot where I put it for the moment, and there 
was I running round with my hand clapped on my 
mouth till I found it. In the boiler-room our exciting 
time was after the worst was over on shore. All 
of a sudden the telegraph rang down, *FulI speed 



242 THE HEROIC RECORD 

ahead,' and then there was a commotion. The artifi- 
cer-engineer shouted, *Now for it; don't forget what 
you have to do — 21 knots, if she never does it again.' 
In a minute or two the engines were going full pelt. 
Somebody came down, and said we were still hitched 
on to the Mole, but Campbell said he didn't care if 
we towed the Mole back with us; nothing was going 
to stop him. As a matter of fact, we pulled away 
great chunks of the masonry with the grappling irons, 
and brought some of it back with us. Eventually we 
got clear of the Mole, and there was terrific firing up 
above. Mr. Campbell was urging us on all the time, 
and we were shoving in the coal like madmen. We 
were all singing. One of the chaps started with, *I 
want to go home,' and this eventually developed into 
a verse, and I don't think we stopped singing it for 
three and a half hours — pretty nearly all the time 
we were coming back. In the other parts of the ship 
there wasn't much singing, for all the killed and 
wounded men we could get hold of had been brought 
on board, and were being attended to by the doctors 
and sick bay men. I don't know if we did the 21 
knots, but we got jolly near it, and everybody worked 
like a Trojan, and was quite exhausted when it was 
all over. When we were off Dover the Engineer- 
Commander came down into the boiler-room and 
asked Artificer-Engineer Campbell, 'What have you 
got to say about your men?' He replied, *I'm not 
going to say anything for them or anything against 
them, but if I was going to hell to-morrow night I 
would have the same men with me.'" 

Not until the Mole had been cleared of every man 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 243 

that could possibly be removed did the Vindictive 
break away, turning in a half -circle and belching 
flames from every pore of her broken funnels. That 
was perhaps her worst moment, for now she was ex- 
posed to every angry and awakened battery; her 
lower decks were already a shambles; and many of 
her navigating staff were killed or helpless. But her 
luck held; the enemy's shells fell short; and soon she 
was comparatively safe in the undispersed smoke- 
trails, with the glorious consciousness that she had 
indeed earned the admiral's *'Well done. Vindictive.'^ 

Six Victoria Crosses were allotted to those partici- 
pating, of whom there was scarcely one that had not 
doubly earned the honour; and four of these were 
handed over to be assigned as the officers and men 
themselves decided. Acting Captain (soon to be con- 
firmed as Captain) A. F. B. Carpenter, Sergeant 
Finch of the Vindictive'' s fighting-top. Captain Bam- 
ford of the Royal Marines, and Able Seaman Albert 
E. McKenzie were thus chosen; while Lieutenants 
Percy Dean and R. D. Sandford were also awarded 
the same honour, Vice-Admiral Roger Keyes being 
made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. 

Meanwhile at Ostend an equal gallantry had un- 
luckily failed to succeed, two main factors, at the last 
moment, contributing to baffle the block-ships. The 
chief of these was the shifting by the enemy, three 
days before the attack, of the Stroom Bank Buoy — 
this bank being one of a series that had to be ne- 
gotiated before entering the harbour; and the other 
being a change of wind to the south-southwest, 
blowing back the smoke-screens and exposing the 



244 THE HEROIC HECORD 

attack. Here, owing to the confusion caused by the 
displaced buoy, tliis change of wind had far more 
serious results, the calcium flares that had been lit by 
the coastal motor-boats, behind the smoke-screens, 
being extinguished by the enemy's gunfire; while the 
Sirius, repeatedly hit, was soon in a sinking condition. 
Having taken a line by the Stroom Bank Buoy — now 
more than 2,000 yards east of its former position — 
both the Sirius and Brilliant went ashore, where there 
was no alternative but to sink them, their crews being 
rescued in motor-launches by Lieutenants Hoare and 
Bourke. 

With the attack on Zeebrugge so triumphant a 
success, however, it was the unanimous opinion of all 
concerned that the failure at Ostend could not be 
allowed to stand; and, almost before she had been 
berthed beside Dover Pier, a new task was found 
for the Vindictive. She had done well. She had done 
very well. But the Dover Patrol had an exigent 
standard. To the thoughtful eye, what more con- 
venient vessel for a second operation at Ostend? Nor 
were there any lack of volunteers, all the oflicers of 
the Sirius and Brilliant again coming forward; while 
Engineer Lieutenant-Commander Bury of the Vin- 
dictive, with four of the engine-room artificers, H. 
Cavanagh, N. Carroll, A. Thomas, and H. Harris, all 
pressed their claims upon Admiral Keyes, in view of 
their special knowledge, to remain with the vessel. 

Finally it was decided that Commander Godsal, 
w^ho had been in charge of the Brilliant, should, for 
the further attempt, command the Vindictive, a 
second block-ship, the Sappho, being placed in charge 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 245 

of Lieutenant-Commander Hardy, who had previ- 
ously commanded the Sirius. As before also. Com- 
mander Hamilton Benn was given the charge of the 
motor-launches, Lieutenant E. C. Harrison being en- 
trusted with thecoastal motor-boats; while the whole 
operation, though Sir Roger Keyes was again to be 
present in the destroyer Warwick, was once more 
placed in the able hands of Commodore Hubert Lynes. 
That the Germans would on this occasion be amply 
prepared was, of course, humanly certain; and aerial 
observation soon revealed that they had already 
taken fresh precautions. The Stroom Bank Buoy 
had been removed altogether, leaving no guiding 
marks of any sort, while the piers had been cut in 
various places to limit the activities of possible land- 
ing-parties. It was quite clear, therefore, that to 
attempt a second surprise a change of plan would 
be necessary; and it was decided to attack on the 
first suitable night without the previous lengthy bom- 
bardment. Not until the Vindictive was close to her 
objective were the monitors at sea to open fire, the 
ends of the two piers having first been torpedoed by 
coastal motor-boats under cover of a smoke-screen. 
That having been accomplished, the airmen overhead 
were to drop star-shells and begin releasing their 
bombs, while the heavy guns of the Flanders shore 
batteries were to open simultaneously from the land. 
Every possible misadventure was foreseen and pro- 
vided for as well as all conceivable changes of wind; 
and each stage of the operation was timed with the 
exactitude of an express train's journey on a main 
line. It was well that it was so; for, as before, just 



246 THE HEROIC RECORD 

at the critical moment, the conditions changed, and, 
for twenty minutes or more, in spite of everything, 
the adventure trembled on the brink of failure. 

Timed to reach Ostend in the early hours, it was on 
the night of May 9th that the two block-ships set out, 
the weather then promising, as it had promised on 
April 22d, all that was required in the way of sup- 
port. It was a moonless night with a still sea and a 
faint wind blowing from the right quarter, all of them 
conspiring to help the little craft that were already 
racing ahead upon their various tasks. That some 
enemy destroyers were out was believed to be prob- 
able; but, in the event, only one was encountered, 
this being driven off by Lieutenant Wellman in a 
little coastal motor-boat armed with a Lewis machine- 
gun. Unhappily, the Sappho, owing to boiler trouble, 
was unable to maintain her speed; and, to the bitter 
disappointment of all on board, was forced to come 
to anchor twelve miles from Ostend. For the rest, 
however, all went well; there were as yet no signs 
of enemy suspicion; and, behind their advanced col- 
umns of lazily rolling smoke, the destroyers and 
motor-boats were soon at work. One lay a light- 
buoy to guide the Vindictive; another hung a flare 
in the rigging of the wrecked Sirius; while a third lit 
a calcium flare in the rightful position of the Stroom 
Bank Buoy. Four minutes before the Vindictive^ 
having picked up the life-buoy, reached this last, an- 
other couple of motor-boats — one commanded by 
Lieutenant Darrel Reid and the other by Lieutenant 
A. L. Poland — made a dash for the two pier-heads 
and successfully torpedoed them. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 247 

Up to this moment the enemy had been silent; but 
now, as from sea and land the heavy guns opened 
upon him. Ids batteries suddenly awoke and filled the 
air with the screaming and explosions of his shells. 
To these were added the peculiar dull intonations of 
the bombs dropped on him from above; while his 
searchlights hurriedly sprang to attention, and star- 
shell after star-shell broke into light. From the 
attackers' point of view nothing could have happened 
more fortunately; but now, by one of those sea-whims 
that nothing could have foretold, a sudden fog de- 
scended upon the scene and threatened to baulk the 
whole plan. As though they had been blinded by 
some perverse agent, the destroyers and motor-boats 
found themselves in darkness, hidden from each 
other, as they were hidden from the Vindictive, and 
with their flares and searchlights unavailing. 

Striving to keep in touch by means of their syrens, 
they did their best to maintain their stations, but 
meanwhile the Vindictive, left without guides, could 
only grope about in search of the entrance. The 
feelings of Commander Godsal, with the failure of the 
Sirius and Brilliant still fresh in his mind, can well be 
imagined; and, as the minutes passed by, each with 
its quota of unredeemable opportunity, it may well 
have seemed to him that the fates had made up their 
minds that he was not to be the man to block Ostend. 

So twenty minutes passed, and then, with a gesture 
as apparently whimsical as the first, the fog abruptly 
lifted and revealed the entrance between the two piers 
just in front of him. At the same moment Act- 
ing Lieutenant G. L. Cockburn, with his attendant 



248 THE HEROIC RECORD 

motor-boats, darted ahead, and marked it with a 
flare; and the Vindictive, steaming across this, found 
herself safe in the desired channel. That is scarcely 
the right word, perhaps, for now, within less than 
three weeks, she had again become the target of 
scores of the enemy's guns. Hit every few seconds, 
a shell destroyed her after-control, killing Sub-Lieu- 
tenant MacLachlan and all its occupants; while every 
exposed position on the deck was swept, as from a 
hose, with machine-gun bullets. 

Commander Godsal, therefore, ordered his officers 
into the conning-tower, leaving it himself, however, 
when 200 yards up the channel, to be killed by a shell 
just as the Vindictive was beginning to swing herself 
into position. It was this same shell that struck the 
conning-tower, stunning Lieutenant Sir John Alleyne, 
who was inside. Lieutenant V. A. C. Crutchley taking 
command of the vessel on getting no reply from his 
commander. Having swung her round to an angle 
of between thirty and forty degrees, however, it be- 
came impossible to move her further, and Lieutenant 
Crutchley ordered the ship to be abandoned, he him- 
self and Lieutenant-Commander Bury then blowing 
the charges that were to sink her. 

Meanwhile the crew, many of whom were wounded, 
were being disembarked into a motor-launch, most 
gallantly laid alongside by Lieutenant G. H. Drum- 
mond. This officer, who remained on the bridge till 
the last man had been taken off, had already been 
wounded in three places, and had lost an officer and 
a man of his crew. The last to leave the Vindictive 
was Lieutenant Crutchley after searching in every 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 249 

quarter with an electric torch; and, when Lieutenant 
Drummond, having backed his launch away, col- 
lapsed and fainted from his wounds, he took charge of 
the little vessel which was already seriously damaged. 
Crowded with wounded, and with her fore part 
flooded, it was only by continual baling v/ith buckets, 
and by shifting as many men aft as possible, that he 
was able to keep her afloat, finally bringing her along- 
side the destroyer Warwick in a sinking condition. 

An even narrower escape was that of Lieutenant 
Alleyne, whom we have last seen lying unconscious 
in the conning-tower, but who was presently found 
there by Petty-Officer Reed, who carried him aft 
under the heaviest fire. Before he could be got over- 
board. Lieutenant Alleyne was badly hit, and fell 
into the water, presumably lost. Following Lieuten- 
ant Drummond, however. Lieutenant Bourke had 
come into the harbour with a second motor-launch; 
and, when Lieutenant Drummond backed away. Lieu- 
tenant Bourke had come alongside. Finding the 
Vindictive emxpty, he too was about to back out when 
he heard cries from the water, and found Lieutenant 
Alleyne, with two other men, all of them badly 
wounded, clinging to an upturned skiff. Under the 
bitterest fire — his little motor-launch was hit in fifty- 
five places, and once by a 4-inch shell — ^Lieutenant 
Bourke succeeded in rescuing them and bringing his 
launch out into the open again, where he presently 
sighted one of the bombarding monitors, by whom he 
was at last taken in tow. For the parts which they 
played on this occasion, Lieutenants Crutchley, Drum- 
mond, and Bourke each received the Victoria Cross. 



250 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Such was the conclusion, just as day was breaking, 
of three unique operations, in that almost every 
branch of modern science had been laid under con- 
tribution for their carrying out. The chemist, the 
engineer, the pyrotechnician — each had been indis- 
pensable to the final success, and yet in no undertak- 
ings of the naval campaign had the human factor 
more palpably triumphed. 

Drawn from the Grand Fleet, with Admiral 
Beatty's warm support, from the forces at Harwick 
and the Dover Patrol, from the three Home Depots, 
the Royal Marine Light Infantry, and the Royal 
Marine Artillery, the volunteers had also included 
representatives of the Australian and French navies; 
while the Admiralty experimental stations at Strat- 
ford and Dover had contributed eager participants. 
As to the material results, in the case of Zeebrugge, 
these alone had been well worth attaining. More 
than a score of torpedo-craft and a dozen submarines 
were at once, and for many days afterward, immo- 
bilized; while the enemy's naval activities, dependent 
on this port, remained seriously hampered till the 
end of the war. As regarded Ostend, while the ma- 
terial results were not very great, this was also the 
less important harbour, and the moral ejBFect of the 
two attacks was both immediate and profound. Up 
to the very eve, indeed, of the great retirement, so 
nervous of future operations did the enemy remain, 
that two of his divisions were pinned to the coast in 
view of possible developments, while money and 
material were poured like water into the further 
strengthening of its defences. 




CHAPTER XI 

THE COMING OF THE AMERICANS 

These were the stars that they followed. 

Eastward returning. 

The stars of the old sailors 

Steadily burning. 

Fearlessness, loyalty, liberty, 

These and none others 

Shone in the eyes that they turned to us, 

Eyes of our brothers. 

MONG the minor casualties of the war was 
the disappearance of newspaper contents 
bills; and it was chalked upon a paving-stone 
in Holborn, as doubtless upon other paving-stones 
elsewhere, that a little group of people read the most 
momentous tidings that had reached London since 
the days of Elizabeth. That to a certain extent they 
were not unexpected; that since the Lusitania went 
down they had perhaps been inevitable — the three 
words, scribbled by the newspaper vendor, America 
Declares War, were none the less thrilling. All that 
lay dormant in them had not yet been revealed; but, 
even at the time, they were sufficiently overwhelm- 
ing. For they not only meant that a great people, 
recruited from almost every nation on earth, had 
spoken its final and unanimous endorsement of all 
that Britain and her Allies were shedding their blood 

251 



252 THE HEROIC KECORD 

for; they not only meant that America had come into 
the ring on the side of chivalry and clean fighting; 
but they meant the reconciling, with its infinite im- 
plications, of two great branches of one family, each 
with liberty at the very core of every movement of its 
policy, and both inheritors of the common tongue of 
Shakespeare, Milton, and Bunyan. 

Of the progressive steps by which the American 
nation moved from a position of neutrality to one of 
intervention, this is not the place to give the history. 
Deeply, and most understandably, reluctant to inter- 
fere in the affairs of Europe, it was not until he had 
judged that the people as a whole — no less on the 
prairies of Dakota than in the parlours of Boston — 
had realized the issue as supra-European, did Presi- 
dent Wilson voice the great decision. With an extraor- 
dinary patience, severely criticized not only abroad 
but at home, he had refused to allow any incident, 
however provocative, to become the casus belli for the 
United States until the essential evil, of which it was 
but a symptom, was recognized and repudiated be- 
yond the last doubt; and, although diplomatic rela- 
tions were broken off in February, on Germany's 
declaration of unrestricted submarine murder, it was 
not until April 6, 1917, that war was finally declared. 

During that time American lives had been lost in 
the sinking of the Laconia, Vigilancia, Healdton, and 
Aztec; while there was made public the German in- 
trigue with Mexico in which she had promised the 
latter the states of Texas and Arizona. It was with 
this in mind, no doubt, that President Wilson, on 
April 3d, spoke as follows: "Self-governed nations 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 253 

do not fill their neighbours' states with spies, or set 
the course of intrigue to bring about some critical 
position of affairs which will give them an oppor- 
tunity to strike and make conquests. Such designs 
can be successfully worked out only under cover, and 
where no one has the right to ask questions. Cun- 
ningly contrived plans of deception or aggression, 
carried, it may be from generation to generation, can 
be worked out and kept from the light only within 
the privacy of courts, or behind the carefully guarded 
conferences of a narrow and privileged class. They 
are happily impossible where public opinion demands 
and insists upon full information concerning all the 
nation's affairs." As regarded the submarine cam- 
paign, he said, "Vessels of every kind, whatever their 
flags, their character, their cargo, their destination, 
their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom 
without warning and without a thought of help or 
mercy for those on board — the vessels of friendly 
neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hos- 
pital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely be- 
reaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the 
latter were provided with safe-conducts through the 
prescribed areas by the German Government itself, 
and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of 
identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack 
of compassion or principle." Proclaiming it to be 
America's duty to take up such a challenge, he fin- 
ished his address to Congress in memorable words. 
"To such a task," he said, "we can dedicate our lives 
and our fortunes, everything that we are and every- 
thing that we have, with the pride of those who know 



254 THE HEROIC RECORD 

that the day has come when America is privileged 
to spend her blood and her might for the principles 
that gave her birth and happiness and the peace 
which she has treasured. God helping her, she can 
do no other." 

Such was America's entrance, with a gesture worthy 
of her, and in which none more than Britain might 
take a greater pride; and it would be quite im- 
possible to overestimate the immediate moral value 
of her action. Though it was, of course, clear that, 
not for many months, could her full weight be felt in 
Europe, there had been placed at the disposal of the 
Entente's anxious statesmen not only the unplumbed 
resources of another continent, but a new spring of 
un jaded enthusiasm at a peculiarly troubled stage of 
the war. Of the subsequent growth of the American 
armies, of their historic rush over the Atlantic in the 
following spring, and of the self-abnegation with 
which, at a critical moment, they allowed themselves 
to be brigaded with the British and French forces, we 
may not write here, save in so far as their navy and 
ours made this possible. Here Yie must confine our- 
selves to a brief survey of the American effort at sea, 
prefacing all that follows with the reminder that, no 
less than ourselves, the United States' navy shared 
in the great traditions bequeathed by the Elizabethan 
admirals. 

To such as were familiar with its inner life, that 
had indeed long been manifest; and we have already 
referred to a couple of incidents in which it had be- 
come apparent to the world at large. In the fight of 
the Chesapeake against the Shannon, wherein both 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 255 

victor and vanquished shared an equal glory, and, in 
the action of Lieutenant Hobson at Santiago, its true 
lineage had shone out; while no English-speaking 
sailor of modern times had gloried in it more elo- 
quently than Admiral Mahan. At the same time, 
separated by thousands of miles, on either side, from 
any potential foe; self-dependent, owing to its vast 
inner resources, for almost every material of industry; 
and with but few colonies, scattered over the world, 
whose interests required protection, America's atti- 
tude toward naval expansion had necessarily been 
somewhat different from our own. It had seemed 
rather an adjunct to her great natural defences than 
the vital condition of her existence; and the reflection 
of this had been clearly visible in her recent pro- 
grammes of construction. Thus in 1909, 1910, and 
1911 only two new battleships had been authorized 
each year. In 1912 and 1913 this number had been 
reduced to one; while, in 1914, though three had been 
authorized, two second-class battleships had been sold 
to Greece. 

In that year, however, the naval staff had issued a 
rather disquieting report; and, in the three years that 
followed, very considerable strides were made in the 
direction of strengthening the Fleet. Always admir- 
able in personnel, and with a considerable maritime 
population upon which to draw, fresh attention was 
paid to her reserves, which, on her entrance into the 
war, were organized in four classes; and, in the strictly 
offensive sense, it v/as at sea that her help as a 
combatant was the soonest felt. Weakest in cruisers, 
and entirely lacking in high-speed, heavy-gunned 



Q56 THE HEROIC RECORD 

battle-cruisers, she possessed fourteen battleships of 
the dreadnought type with another score of the second 
and third classes. Of her dreadnoughts six — the 
Pennsylvania, Arizona, Ohlahoma, Nevada, New YorJc, 
and Texas — mounted 14-inch guns, the first two 
carrying twelve of these, with a secondary armament 
of twenty-two 5-inch guns, and the last four carrying 
ten, with a secondary armament of twenty-one 5-inch 
guns respectively. Five other battleships were still 
in course of construction on her entrance into the war. 
She had also nearly a hundred destroyers and torpedo- 
boats, and something over sixty submarines, and 
was soon to be producing fast sub-chasers, as she 
called them, in very large numbers. Manned, as all 
these were, by a 'personnel not only eager and intelli- 
gent, but combining a nationally typical self-confi- 
dence with the modesty and discipline of true seamen, 
the American navy was thus a timely reinforcement 
of the most valuable kind; and it was made doubly so 
by the prompt generosity with which it lent itself to 
the existing commands. 

Nothing else, indeed, was to have been expected, 
since the relations between the British and American 
navies had always been a little in advance, perhaps, 
as regarded cordiality, of those prevailing between 
their respective countries. Even when they were op- 
ponents in the war that should never have been, they 
had sincerely and consistently respected each other; 
and, for the last hundred years, whenever they had 
foregathered, it had been with a more than formal 
friendliness. "It has been a rule," wrote the doyen 
of American admirals, the late Admiral Dewey, in 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 257 

1913, "that vfherever a British and an American ship 
meet, their officers and their crews fraternize. The 
two services speak the same language, they have a 
common inheritance of naval discipline and customs. 
Exchanges of visits, which are ceremonial where other 
nations are concerned, become friendly calls in a con- 
genial atmosphere." 

Nor had more solid evidence been lacking of the 
genuine alliance of which both navies were conscious. 
Thus in 1859, when the Toey-Wan, a British char- 
tered steamer, in the Pei River, was enduring an 
extremely heavy fire from the Chinese forts, the 
American flag-officer, Josiah Tatnall, who was pres- 
ent on the occasion, turned to a junior officer and 
exclaimed, "Blood is thicker than water," ordered his 
boat to be manned, and, with his own crew, took the 
place of the fallen British gunners. Later, when 
Admiral Dewey himself, while blockading Manila, 
during the Spanish-American War, was in serious dif- 
ficulties owing to the attitude of the German admiral 
present in the Bay, it was the action of Captain Chi- 
chester, the senior British officer, in upholding Ad- 
miral Dewey's position under international law, that 
prevented the development of an awkward and po- 
tentially serious situation. 

Divided into three main commands — the Atlantic, 
the Pacific, and the Asiatic, each in charge of a full 
admiral, the only other full admiral in the American 
navy was the Chief of the Naval Staff at Washington. 
This officer, roughly corresponding with our own First 
Sea Lord, was in charge of all operations, the Secre- 
tary of the Navy, corresponding with our First Lord, 



258 THE HEROIC RECORD 

being a civilian official of Cabinet rank. Of the three 
sea commands, the Atlantic was considerably the most 
important, and contained the chief proportion of the 
latest and most powerful vessels of the American 
navy. This command was held, during the Amer- 
ican intervention, by a distinguished officer. Admiral 
Mayo, the naval administration at Washington being 
in the able hands of Admiral Benson, while to the 
command of all American naval forces operating 
in European waters was appointed Vice-Admiral 
W. S. Sims. 

Born in Canada, formerly a naval attache in Lon- 
don, and distinguished, throughout his career, by a 
remarkable combination of vision, initiative, and 
mastery of detail, Vice-Admiral Sims (later to become 
Admiral on the retirement of the admiral of the 
Asiatic Fleet) was the obvious choice for a position re- 
quiring very rare and special abilities. A close friend 
and admirer, in earlier days, of the British gunnery 
expert. Sir Percy Scott, Admiral Sims had been largely 
responsible for wide-spreading reforms in American 
gunnery methods — ^reforms carried through, not with- 
out opposition, by his characteristic tact and driving 
force. Always ready, at first hand, to examine the 
ideas of his most junior officers, invariably loyal to 
them, and caring nothing for personal dignity so 
that the war might be won in the speediest fashion, 
it was little wonder not only that he was idolized by 
all who served under him, but that his British col- 
leagues could have asked for no more able or inspiring 
a helper. 

Beginning in April, 1917, with five officers and a 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 259 

room or two, the United States Naval Headquarters 
in London had expanded, by the end of the war, to a 
total 'personnel of 912 occupying several large houses 
— notwithstanding that, during the whole time. Ad- 
miral Sims himself had scarcely missed a single atten- 
dance at the usual daily conference at the British 
Admiralty. Under him at sea, and at the various 
subsidiary bases, with which we shall presently deal 
more particularly, there were serving by November, 
1918, nearly 5,000 officers and 76,000 men. Not un- 
til it is remembered that these fifteen bases were 
scattered between Queenstown in Ireland and Corfu 
in Greece, between Inverness in the North of Scot- 
land and Bizerta near Algiers; that everyone of them 
had to be created while the war was in active progress, 
and that simultaneously, both in Europe and Amer- 
ica, thousands of untrained men and officers had to 
be educated — can some idea be formed of the ad- 
ministrative miracle expressed in the full contribution 
of American sea-power. 

Declaring war in April, 1917, America's first naval 
units to appear in European waters were the de- 
stroyers that arrived in May to operate from Queens- 
town in the south of Ireland. Perhaps the most 
valuable of all, they arrived at a peculiarly appro- 
priate moment. The submarine warfare was then 
at its most destructive stage; the British destroyer 
crews, at the end of their third winter, were beginning 
to show signs of staleness; while, owing to the de- 
mands upon them in every quarter and especially by 
the Grand Fleet, it had so far been impossible fully 
to develop the convoy-system of merchant shipping 



260 THE HEROIC RECORD 

later so successful. The arrival of these destroyers, 
therefore, was trebly welcome; and they placed them- 
selves, without reservation, at the British Admiral's 
disposal. Reporting immediately upon arrival to 
Vice-Admiral Lewis Bayly, he enquired how soon 
they would be ready for duty. "As soon as we 
have re-fueled, sir," replied the Senior American 
Officer; and that remained the keynote of all their 
activities. By the end of June, twenty American 
destroyers were regularly at work in the Queenstown 
area; and, by the end of the war, though they were 
still under the British Admiralty, there were none but 
American destroyers at this base. 

Throughout that time, the bulk of their work con- 
sisted of escorting convoys; and the relief caused by 
their presence was felt almost immediately. It was 
in the Irish Sea, the Bristol Channel, and off the west 
coast of Ireland that our shipping losses had been 
heaviest; and our overworked destroyers had been 
obliged to fight the submarines by means of constant 
patrols in very broad areas. That had proved in- 
sufficient, as our losses clearly showed; and it was the 
American reinforcements that enabled us to turn the 
tide. The regular organization of convoys was at 
once put in hand, and the submarine sinkings began 
to decrease. 

Proceeding westward, it was the task of the Amer- 
ican destroyers to pick up these merchant-vessels or 
troopships, escort them through the danger-zone to 
the mouth of the Irish Sea or the off-shore patrols 
of the Bristol Channel, hand them over to the wait- 
ing British destroyers, and then, returning westward 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 261 

again, repeat the process; while, a little later, other 
detachments performed similar duties between Liver- 
pool and Milford Haven. How well they worked let 
a figure or two show. 

Actually at sea seven days out of every ten, they 
steamed, during the war, more than 2,000,000 miles. 
Of the total traffic passing through this area, they 
were responsible for sixty-five per cent. ; while, when- 
ever three or four days were likely to elapse between 
the arrival or departure of convoys, they at once took 
their part in the usual patrol-duties and submarine- 
hunting always in progress. Of the total number of 
nearly 2,000,000 American troops transported to 
Europe in 1918, sixty-two per cent, were escorted by 
American destroyers, more than 800,000 being carried 
in American ships. Such vessels as the great liners 
Aquitania, Olympic, Mauretania, and Leviathan were 
always brought to and fro under their guardianship, 
and none of them was lost; while, as to the coopera- 
tive spirit that produced these amazing results, let the 
remarks of a junior American destroyer-officer bear 
witness. "Old Admiral Bayly," he was heard to ob- 
serve, *'is a fine old gentleman for work. His policy 
is that, as long as there is a war on, there is no neces- 
sity for waiting around looking for something to do. 
He certainly has given us a hard time of it, but, be- 
cause of his efficiency, insight, and powers of organiza- 
tion, everyone has appreciated the privilege of work- 
ing under him." Needless to say. Admiral Bayly's 
feelings for his American command were equally 
warm. 

Meanwhile at Brest in France a new American base 



262 THE HEROIC RECORD 

was quickly growing. Already, in June, 1917, a few 
vessels had been sent there — converted yachts that 
were at once employed as escorts to coastal convoys 
through the Bay of Biscay. By October it was real- 
ized, however, that this must inevitably become 
one of the chief American naval stations in Europe; 
and the erection of barracks, hospitals, and repair- 
shops, on the largest scale, was at once begun. Early 
in the new year, many new vessels were sent there; 
and, by June, 1918, the complement had increased 
from sixteen yachts to thirty-four destroyers, four 
repair-ships, three supply-ships, and nine mine- 
sweepers. 

Here, as at Queenstown, the main task was one 
of escort duty; and the American forces quickly be- 
came responsible for the safety of ninety per cent, of 
all the traffic along the French coast and in the Bay 
of Biscay. In the first three months of 1918, fifty- 
four convoys of 186 ships were thus escorted by the 
American destroyer-flotillas; while, in the third three 
months, these figures had increased to ninety-eight 
convoys of 742 ships. During July and August, 
1918, these forces escorted no less than 3,500,000 tons 
of shipping — the entire French coast having been 
practically placed under the command of the Apier- 
ican Rear-Admiral H. B. Wilson. 

Almost contemporary with the development at 
Brest had been that of the American naval forces 
based upon Gibraltar. Here, on August 18, 1917, 
had arrived the U. S. S. Birmingham, then the flag- 
ship of Rear-Admiral Wilson and a scout-cruiser of 
the United States Atlan tic Fleet. With her had come 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 263 

the Sacramento, and, in less than four days, this vessel 
was at sea again escorting an English convoy — the 
American naval officers, just as at Queenstown, act- 
ing under the orders of the British Admiral. By the 
following March, twenty-eight American vessels were 
regularly operating from Gibraltar, and, by June, 
there were thirty-five, with another forty based upon 
Corfu — those at Gibraltar, under Rear-Admiral Nib- 
lack, acting as an integral part of the British forces 
and being entirely at the disposal of the British ad- 
miral in command. 

Here also, as at Brest, the vessels were very va- 
rious, consisting of cruisers, destroyers, and gun-boats, 
with a number of yachts, converted into warships, 
and some coast-guard cutters. Of these the larger 
vessels were continually on escort duty between the 
Mediterranean and England as also between the 
Continent and the chief South American ports. They 
furnished a quarter of the total escorts for local 
Mediterranean convoys, and more than seventy per 
cent, of the escorts for ocean and deep-sea merchant- 
men. To the smaller vessels were allotted patrol- 
duties at the mouth of the Mediterranean, local con- 
voy work, and convoy work with vessels bound to and 
from the Azores. Far less sea- worthy than the larger 
vessels, and, as regarded the yachts, not intended for 
war-service, theirs were, perhaps, the hardest tasks of 
all and as little dramatic as those of the others. Pre- 
cisely in the same spirit, however, of cheerful grum- 
bling as that of their sea-loving British brethren, the 
officers and men of these heterogeneous vessels set 
themselves to compass their various tasks. 



264 THE HEROIC RECORD 

**Our ships," wrote one of them, referring to the 
five mine-sweepers under his particular command, 
"are the old Jersey fishermen's boats, re-rigged a bit 
and thrown together for this duty. When they out- 
fitted these boats, they put all the stuff in a big gun 
and shot it at the hull. Then they loaded a machine- 
gun with nails and bolts, and shot that load after the 
first; and lo, out of chaos, we have sweepers. Our 
motto is 'Always ready' and 'We do anything.' And 
we do. We sweep, patrol, salvage wrecks, tug-boat, 
convoy sometimes, despatch duty, and if the coal 
isn't prompt, we get a rest. Day into night, night 
into day, and vice versa, sometimes normal, mostly 
not, that's our life — but we are all happy and well and 
working for the same cause. . . . All of the offi- 
cers except three are Reserve officers, and a corking 
fine lot they are. I admire the spirit that brings them 
with us, and give them a lot of credit. Theirs has 
been a hard lot, and they have done well. . . . 
Meatless, wheatless, cheerless, heatless, foodless, and 
fruitless days are in our scheme of things economic, 
and sometimes there is evidence of brainless days with 
me. . . . You remember the old Rules of the 
Road for passing vessels .^^ We have a new one to 
rival Farragut's famous 'Damn the torpedoes — go 
ahead.' Ours is modest: 

Red to red and green to green. 

To hell with danger — steam between. 

Sweeping for mines is not like anything you see in a 
hotel or office or home — no, sir — it is entirely differ- 
ent. The broom is a big wire, and the game is look- 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 265 

ing for a needle in a haystack. It is a great sport in 
a way. I guess, if you analyze it seriously, it's the 
biggest game in this war from a naval point of view — 
a field is located, and instead of carefully avoiding it, 
we make the most e^diaustive calculations to get right 
into it. . . . You have hunted big game in the 
mountains, but you could see what you were shooting 
at. We look for big game without that advantage. 
Get the idea? We don't want to throw ourselves any 
bouquets, but those who think that the submarine is 
the only menace, and destroyers the only duty, don't 
know what it means to hunt for the horned egg. 
, , . Every mine we get means a ship saved, each 
ship and cargo is worth at least three million dollars, 
and each mine we sink or explode cuts dov/n the 
overhead. I am proud of my ships, my officers, and 
my men. We came across, and we are doing all we 
can to make good. ... I have never met the 
King and Queen, so don't feel blue if they don't ask 
about me." To any one in doubt of the essential kin- 
ship between the average lieutenants of the English- 
speaking navies, we would beg to suggest a careful 
perusal of the foregoing letter. 

Equally characteristic, and modestly illustrative of 
the spirit in which these American escort-officers in- 
terpreted their duty, is the following account, written 
by the commander of the destroyer Warrington, of 
the attempt to save the Wellington, a British collier. 
"The Wellington," he wrote, "carrying coal to Gibral- 
tar, left Milford Haven with a convoy of about 
twenty ships in the morning of Friday, September 
13th. Sunday night the escort of British destroyers 



266 THE HEROIC RECORD 

left, and convoy proceeded under ocean escort of 
U. S. S. Seneca. About eleven in the morning of 
September 16th, the Wellington sighted a submarine 
which porpoised and instantly thereafter submerged 
about one point on her starboard bow. Immediately 
afterward she was struck by a torpedo forward, and 
the forehold was quickly flooded. The Wellington's 
crew of forty-four abandoned the ship in the two 
good lifeboats belonging to her, and were picked up 
by U. S. S. Seneca, the ocean escort. 

First Lieutenant Fletcher W. Brown, Coast Guard, 
attached to Seneca, asked and obtained the permis- 
sion of his commanding officer to man the Wellington 
with a volunteer crew and endeavour to bring her 
into port. A large number of the Seneca's crew vol- 
unteered, and eighteen men were chosen. At the 
same time the Master of the Wellington, the first 
and second mates and ten of her original crew volun- 
teered to return with the Seneca's men. They were 
permitted to do so, and all went aboard the Welling- 
ton, with Lieutenant Brown in charge, but the Master 
of the Wellington navigating. Unfortunately, before 
returning to the Wellington, one of the lifeboats which 
had been used when the ship was first abandoned had 
been cast adrift. This left the vessel with but one 
lifeboat, two jolly boats, and two life-rafts which 
Lieutenant Brown had made on board. 

At the time the Wellington's S. 0. S. was received, 
the Warrington was operating with a west-bound 
convoy about eighty miles to the southward of the 
S. O. S.; but it was not before eleven p. m. that the 
Warrington was detached by the escort commander^ 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 267 

and ordered to proceed to the position of the torpe- 
doed ship. This order was carried out with all 
possible speed, but the Wellington had meanwhile 
been making about 7 knots per hour, heading for 
Brest, but steering badly on account of her being 
down by the head. Finally radio-communication 
was established between the Wellington and the War- 
rington, and a systematic search instituted by the 
latter vessel. Between eleven p. m., the sixteenth, 
and one a. m., the seventeenth, two eleven p. m. posi- 
tions were received from Wellington differing by about 
forty miles. This discrepancy is explained by the 
first mate who states that the Master got a fix by 
simultaneous star sights about 11.30 and sent out a 
corrected position, which was forty miles away from 
his dead reckoning. I headed the Warrington toward 
the new position, and at three A. M. picked up 
Wellington dead ahead. 

In the meanwhile we had received a radio from her 
saying she had stopped, but would go ahead again 
when wind had moderated. Just as we picked her 
up, the moon set. There was a strong breeze from 
the southwest and the sea was rough. I exchanged 
signals with Wellington and she stated that there was 
every probability of her remaining afloat till day- 
light and possibly longer, as her volunteer crew had 
then kept her afloat for seventeen hours. However, 
shortly after this signal was received, a bulkhead col- 
lapsed and she signalled for immediate assistance, 
and said her crew were abandoning ship. Imme- 
diately afterward I picked up her lifeboat containing 
first and second mates of Wellington, five of her orig- 



268 THE HEROIC RECORD 

inal crew, and one of the Seneca's volunteer crew. 
I searched for more boats, coming as close to Welling- 
ton as I dared in the darkness. Going alongside in 
that wind and sea would have been suicide. I tried 
to hold Wellington's lifeboat alongside, but it quickly 
swamped and I had to cut it adrift. 

Meanwhile, a desperate attempt was made to lower 
one of our boats, but after two men had barely es- 
caped serious injuries in the attempt, I saw it would 
be a case of just so many more men in the water. 
The current was against the sea, so I went to leeward 
of Wellington and floated down three life-rafts well 
lighted, my Franklin life-buoys, and a number of 
circular buoys, all with lights. I learned afterward 
that Wellington's remaining boats were small and 
that they had been smashed in lowering, and that for 
some reason their own life-rafts had fouled and could 
not be gotten clear of the ship. Accordingly all the 
remaining men went down with the ship, or jumped 
just before she sank. 

It was still very black, the proverbial darkest hour 
just before the dawn. From a few hundred yards to 
leeward I watched the black hull turn turtle, slowly 
settle in the water, and then disappear from sight. 
It was very distressing not to be able to do anything 
at that moment for the men in the water. Our life- 
rafts and buoys were there, with plenty of calcium 
torches, but we absolutely could not get a boat in 
the water. I circled slowly well clear of the raft. 
When dawn broke finally, we began to see men in 
the water. Some were on our rafts and buoys, some 
on pieces of floating wreckage. All were singing out 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 269 

to attract our attention. In picking them up, I had, 
of course, to take the ship alongside the men and to 
get heaving lines to them. In doing this, as you may 
well imagine, we had to draw a fine line between 
cutting the man down and getting close enough to 
get a heaving line to him. Manoeuvring amidst the 
wreckage, life-rafts, and buoys, we finally picked up 
eight men out of the water. One of these died on 
board. We had been able to save only half of the 
entire crew, but careful search for four hours failed 
to locate any more survivors. 

One of the first men picked up from the water 
proved to be Lieutenant Brown, who had been in 
command of the volunteer crew. A heaving line had 
been flung to him, and he had grabbed it, but he says 
he does not remember having been hauled on board. 
He apparently lost consciousness until he awoke in a 
bunk in the C. P. O.'s quarters, when his identity was 
discovered. There were several commendable inci- 
dents on the part of our crew. I have recommended 
for life-saving medals three of my own crew — William 
James Taylor, coxswain; Robert Emanuel Noel, quar- 
termaster, first class; Walter Irving Sherwood, fire- 
man, first class — all for having jumped from the 
Warrington into the heavy sea, with lines made fast 
to their waists, in attempting to save life. Espe- 
cially courageous was the action of Seaman James 
Osborne of the Coast Guard, one of the survivors. 
Osborne, supporting a shipmate — Coxswain John A. 
Peterson — swam to a small life-raft and placed Peter- 
son, who was in a semi-conscious condition, on the 
raft, holding him, as well as he could, between his 



g70 THE HEROIC RECORD 

feet. Several times both Osborne and his shipmate 
were washed off the raft by the high seas, whereupon 
Osborne went to Peterson's assistance and replaced 
him on the raft. Finally, while I was going to the 
assistance of another man, who seemed for the time 
being in a more desperate predicament than Osborne, 
the latter semaphored from his pitching raft, *I am 
all right; but he's gone unless you come right away.' 
We got them both. Above all, young Brown of the 
Coast Guard deserves commendation. It was he who 
organized the volunteer crew that kept the Welling- 
ton afloat for seventeen hours, and, without a doubt, 
with even average weather conditions, would have 
salved her." 

While American cruisers, destroyers, gun-boats, 
coast-guard cutters, and tenders were thus all repre- 
sented in European waters by the autumn of 1917, 
the first appearance of America's battleships was not 
till December 6th, when four of these were assigned 
to the Grand Fleet. Commanded by Rear-Admiral 
Hugh Rodman, and forming the Sixth Battle Squad- 
ron under Sir David Beatty, they consisted of the 
New YorJcy Florida, Wyoming, and Delaware, the 
Texas joining in February, and the Arkansas relieving 
the Delaware in the following July. Here their du- 
ties, with the Battle of Jutland already an eighteen- 
month-old event, were but those of every similar 
squadron attached to the Grand Fleet — to take their 
share in filling the North Sea, to watch night and day 
for the tarrying High Seas Fleet, and to remain, 
throughout all that time, keyed to the highest pitch of 
preparedness and eflSciency. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 271 

The Florida, Delaware, New York, and Texas were 
all, at different times, the subject of torpedo-attack; 
and the New York was successful in putting down a 
submarine in October, 1918. With other units of the 
Grand Fleet they undertook their appropriate share 
of convoy-work between the North of Scotland and 
the Norwegian coast. Finally, during the night of 
November 20, 1918, they proceeded to sea with the 
Grand Fleet, and had the satisfaction of being present 
at the arrival for internment of the German High 
Seas Fleet. 

As we have seen, it was during the last quarter of 
1917 that these battleships made their appearance; 
and, during these same three months, some American 
submarines first came into action and began regular 
patrols. Five of these, with the tender Tonopak, were 
based upon Ponte Delgada in the Azores; and, later, 
another seven arrived in Bantry Bay, and were 
soon operating from Berehaven. Though they were 
only successful, by indirect action, in accounting for 
one hostile submarine, their work of hampering the 
enemy's activities was of the most valuable nature, 
and, by the spring of 1918, they had become respon- 
sible for the whole area sentinelled from Berehaven. 

To the work of the mine-sweepers we have already 
referred, and, in the summer of 1918, these were 
joined by the mine-layers, work being begun by these 
upon the Northern Barrage on June 8th. Thirteen 
excursions were made, the fourteenth being held up 
owing to the signing of the armistice; and, during 
these trips, more than 56,000 mines were laid at a 
cost of more than £9,000,000. 



272 THE HEROIC KECORD 

Nor must tlie navy's aid to the American army 
coal trade go without mention in these pages. Early 
in the autumn of 1917, the army coal situation in 
France became serious, and the navy was asked, in 
order to avoid a crisis, to send some colliers to the 
rescue. Accordingly, between the 5th of October and 
the 1st of December, 1917, navy colliers made thirty 
trips between Cardiff and the French ports, during 
which time they carried for the army 96,000 tons of 
coal. Later it was decided to place the whole of the 
army coal trade under the supervision of the navy; 
a base was established at Cardiff, under Rear-Admiral 
Philip Andrews, and, by the end of the war, there 
were fifty-five colliers in actual commission for this 
purpose. 

Meanwhile, in America, as in England, though its 
activities were being curtailed, there had been no dis- 
position to underestimate the serious nature of the 
submarine menace, and new methods of defeating 
it were being constantly thought out. Perhaps the 
most notable of these was the construction and large- 
scale employment of sub -chasers, the first of these 
coming into use during the early summer of 1918. 
These were 110-feet gasoline boats, each of them dis- 
placing eighty tons, and each carrying a 3-inch, a Y 
gun (for throwing depth-charges to a distance), and 
a dozen depth-charges. Each was manned by a crew 
of two officers and twenty-three men; and each was 
equipped with the very latest and best of American 
listening devices. They were thus able to detect sub- 
merged submarines up to a very considerable dis- 
tance, and were particularly effective at night, when 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 273 

they drifted noiselessly, with their listening devices 
manned. By day they patrolled, stopping at inter- 
vals to listen; took their share of the ordinary convoy- 
Vv^ork; assisted torpedoed vessels to reach port; and 
destroyed drifting mines. 

By the first of July, 1918, there were more than 
seventy of these at work, and, by the end of the war, a 
hundred and twenty. Thirty-six of them were based 
on Corfu, and formed part of the barrage across the 
Straits of Otranto, Another detachment operated 
from Plymouth and a third from Queenstown; while 
the closing days of the war saw a fourth working from 
Gibraltar. Hunting as a rule in threes, the following 
account, selected at random from many of a like 
nature, will illustrate best, perhaps, with its official 
brevity, the sort of work performed by these Ameri- 
can chasers. It relates the story, not of a red-letter 
day, but of a few exciting minutes, spent by three 
Queenstown sub-chasers on an October afternoon in 
1918. 

"Sub-chasers ^7, I^8, and 208, while on running 
patrol, made contact with submarine at 14.30. After 
four runs of various courses and distances, made po- 
sition fix at 15. 30, course 25 mag., distance 400 
yards. Made attack in line formation 47 dropping six 
charges, 208 dropping five, and J{-8 dropping one 
charge. Stopped and listened; submarine heard by 
all three boats sounding badly damaged and within 
200 yards of ^5. As the other two chasers were not 
in position to make an attack together without losing 
time, ^5 attacked, dropping two depth-charges. 
Stopped and listened. Submarine heard by all boats. 



274 THE HEROIC RECORD 

sounded as if having trouble with her engines, and 
was hammering. Positive fix directly ahead of J^l 
who instantly attacked with two depth-charges. 
Stopped and listened. Submarine heard by J^l in 
direction of 208. 208 heard, but could not centre 
sound. A few seconds later, 208 and ^7 got a fix just 
astern of the 208, which attacked as fast as she could 
turn and get under way, dropping two stern depth- 
charges. The first charge of this attack did not ex- 
plode, although charge was properly set. The 208 
reported an oil slick where last charge exploded. On 
investigation this was found to be merely disturb- 
ances caused by the explosion of the depth-charge. 
While the 208 was investigating this disturbance, sev- 
eral members of her crew saw what appeared to be 
the wake of a submarine on her port beam, but did 
not bring it to the attention of the commanding offi- 
cer in time to make an attack. Stopped and listened. 
Positive fix by all three chasers within 200 yards of 
the 208 i which immediately attacked with two stern 
charges and Y gun. First stern charge failed to 
explode. Chasers re-formed in original chase forma- 
tion and got fix distance 400 yards. As 208 had only 
one charge left, she remained behind in case sub- 
marine should come to the surface. ^7 and ^5 at- 
tacked, each dropping two depth-charges. First 
charge dropped by 1^8 failed to explode. Stopped and 
listened. No definite fixes were obtained, but all 
chasers heard submarine running with apparent diffi- 
culty at about 310°. Ran a thousand yards and 
listened. Sound of submarine lost at 1,800. From 
then on disturbance due to wireless communication 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 275 

and the arrival of two destroyers, one trawler, two 
motor-launches, and the passing of a convoy, made 
it impossible to again pick up submarine." Such was 
an encounter, typical of many, and all invaluable as 
police-work, even though they failed, as did this one, 
in sinking or capturing the prey. 

Luckier were the chasers engaged at Durazzo, dur- 
ing the British and Italian bombardment, when this 
important Albanian harbour was rendered untenable 
as an enemy base. Setting out at noon on October 
2, 1918, the sub-chasers, eleven in number, under the 
command of Captain C. P. Nelson, met the British 
and Italian squadrons at the appointed rendezvous. 
As they neared the coast, the whole force came under 
a very heavy fire from the enemy batteries; but the 
sub-chasers, by skilful zig-zagging, and keeping well 
inside the range of the guns, succeeded in carrying 
out their task without a single casualty. 

Hardly had they pierced the barrage, however, be- 
fore the periscope of a hostile submarine made its 
appearance; and, considering that the majority of 
the crews of the sub-chasers had never before been 
under fire, the coolness and decision of their tactics 
could hardly have been excelled. With her second 
shot Chaser 215 smashed the enemy's periscope, and 
then, in company with Chaser 128, steered at full 
speed for the spot where the submarine had gone 
under. Dropping their depth-charges, they were 
inunediately rewarded by the coming to the surface of 
a large piece of steel plating followed by a great 
spout of heavy black oil, in the midst of which the 
plate sank again. A moment later Chaser 129 sighted 



276 THE HEROIC RECOED 

another submarine about to attack the larger vessels. 
Twice it submerged, changing its course, but, in spite 
of engine trouble, the sub-chaser followed her, drop- 
ping three depth-charges, and, like her colleagues, 
receiving the best evidence of success. Seven large 
pieces of steel plating rose to the surface in the whirl, 
followed by a steady stream of black oil, proving that 
the depth-charges had done their work. 

Having broken up the submarine-attack, a little 
later, they were once again of most timely service. 
At the entrance of the harbour. Chaser 130 sighted 
two floating mines. One of these she destroyed by 
gunfire, and the other she rendered harmless, just 
as a detachment of British destroyers was bearing 
down upon it at thirty knots. In this attack on 
Durazzo, every enemy boat in the harbour was either 
sunk or disabled; and no better example could be 
cited of America's naval cooperation. 

Nor did this end upon the water, and, necessarily 
brief as this review must be, it must still be remem- 
bered that it extended both to land and air. With 
a 'personnel of thirty officers and 486 men, her Naval 
Railway Battery rendered very important assistance. 
"With the first shipment arriving at St. Nazaire on 
July 25, 1918, all these heavy guns were mounted and 
ready in a little more than three weeks, and were in full 
action against the enemy throughout September and 
October. Laon, Longuyon, and Montmedy were the 
main objectives against which they were employed, 
193 rounds being fired at the first of these, 119 at the 
second, and no less than 295 at what was one of the 
key positions behind the German retreat. 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 27? 

Finally, in turning from a record of service not to 
be estimated in many volumes, and with America's 
sonship of admiralty already, as we may hope, amply 
proved, let us finish this chapter with the following 
report of a young American naval ensign, working 
with a patrol of British seaplanes over the waters of 
the North Sea. "On June 4th," he said, "we re- 
ceived orders to carry out a reconnaissance and hos- 
tile aircraft patrol over the North Sea and along the 
coast of Holland. It was a perfect day for such 
work, for the visibility was extremely good, with a 
light wind of 15 knots and clouds at the high altitude 
of about eight or ten thousand feet. Our three ma- 
chines at Felixstowe rose from the water at twelve 
o'clock, circled into patrol formation, and proceeded 
northeast by north along the coast to Yarmouth. 
Here we were joined by two more planes but not 
without some trouble and slight delay because of a 
broken petrol pipe which was subsequently repaired 
in the air. We again circled in formation. Captain 
Leckie, D. S. O., of Yarmouth, taking his position as 
leader of the squadron. 

"At one o'clock the squadron proceeded east; our 
machine, being in the first division, flew at 1,500 feet, 
and at about half a mile in the rear of Captain 
Leckie's machine, but keeping him on our starboard 
quarter. We sighted nothing at all until half-past 
two, when the Haaks Light Vessel slowly rose on the 
horizon, but near this mark and considerably more 
to the south we discovered a large fleet of Dutch 
fishing smacks. This fleet consisted of more than a 
hundred smacks. Ten minutes later we sighted the 



278 THE HEROIC RECORD 

Dutcli coast where we changed our course more to 
the northeast. We followed the sandy beaches of 
the Islands of Texel and Vlieland until we came to 
Terschelling. In following the coast of Vlieland we 
were close enough to distinguish houses on the inside 
of the Island and even to make out breakers rolling 
up on the sandy beach. 

"At Terschelling we proceeded west in accordance 
with our orders, but soon had to turn back because 
of Captain Leckie's machine which had fallen out of 
formation and come to the water. This machine 
landed at 3.15 and we continued to circle around it, 
finding that the trouble was with a broken petrol pipe, 
until about fifteen minutes later, when we sighted 
five German planes steering west, a direction which 
would soon bring them upon us. At this time Cap- 
tain Barker had the wheel; Lieutenant Galvayne was 
seated beside him, but if we met the opposing forces 
he was to kneel on the seat with his eyes above the 
cowl, where he could see all the enemy planes and 
direct the pilot in which direction to proceed. I was 
in the front cockpit with one gun and 400 rounds of 
ammunition. In the stern cockpit, the engineer and 
wireless ratings were to handle three guns. We at 
once took battle formation and went forward to meet 
the enemy, but here we were considerably surprised 
to find that, when we were nearly within range, they 
had turned and were running away from us. At 
once we gave chase, but soon found that they were 
much too fast for us. Our machine had broken out 
of the formation and with nose down had crept 
slightly ahead of Captain Leckie, and we, being the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 279 

nearest machine to the enemy, I had the satisfaction 
of trying out my gun for a number of rounds. It was 
quite impossible to tell whether I had registered any 
shots or not. Our purpose in chasing these planes 
was to keep them away from the machine on the 
water, which, if we had not been there, would have 
been shot to pieces. Finding that it was useless to 
follow them, as they could easily keep out of our 
range, we turned back and very shortly we were 
again circling round our machine on the water. 

"It was not long before the enemy again came 
very close to us, so we gave chase a second time. 
This time instead of five machines as before there 
were only four, and one small scout could be seen 
flying in the direction of Borkum. It was the fourth 
time that we went off in pursuit of the enemy that we 
suddenly discovered that a large number of hostile 
planes were proceeding toward us, not in the air 
with the other four planes, but very close to the 
water. There were ten planes in this first group, 
but they were joined a few minutes later by five 
more, "^ The scouts were painted black, the two- 
seaters green, and seemed very hard to pick up. We 
swung into battle formation and steered for the 
middle of the group. When we were nearly within 
range, four planes on the port side and five on the 
starboard side rose to our level of 15,000 feet. Two 
planes passed directly beneath us firing upward. 
Firing was incessant from the beginning, and the air 
seemed blue with tracer smoke. I gave most of my 
time to the four planes on our port side because they 
were exactly on the same level with us and seemed 



280 THE HEROIC RECORD 

to be witliin good range, tliat is about two hundred 
yards. When we had passed each other, I looked 
around and noticed that Lieutenant Galvayne was in 
a stooping position, with head and one arm on his 
seat, the other arm hanging down as if reaching for 
something. I had seen him in this position earher 
in the day so thought nothing of it. All this I had 
seen in the fraction of a second, for I had to continue 
firing. A few minutes later I turned around again, 
and found, with a shock, that Lieutenant Galvayne 
was in the same position. It was then that the first 
inkling of the truth dawned upon me. By bending 
lower I discovered that his head was lying in a pool of 
blood. 

"From this time on I had no clear idea of just 
what our manoeuvring was, but evidently we took up 
a running fight steering east, then circled until sud- 
denly I found our machine had been cut off from the 
formation and we were surrounded by seven enemy 
seaplanes. This time we were steering west or more 
to the southwest. We carried on a running fight for 
ten miles or so, until we drove the seven planes off. 
One of them was driven down, and made a very poor 
landing. Another was badly hit, side-slipped, and 
crashed in flames from a height of 2,000 feet. During 
the last few minutes of the fight, our engine had been 
popping altogether too frequently, and soon the en- 
gineer came forward to tell us that the fourth engine 
petrol pipe had broken. By this time I had laid out 
Lieutenant Galvayne in the wireless cockpit, cleaned 
up the second pilot's seat, and taken it myself. 

"The engagement had lasted about half an hour, 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 281 

and the closest range was one hundred yards, while 
the average range was two hundred. The boat with 
Ensign Eaton in it landed between the Islands of 
Texel and Vlieland, while the other boat, which had 
not taken any part in the fight, was last seen two 
miles off Vlieland. . . . We descended to the 
water at 5.45, ten miles northwest of Vlieland. Dur- 
ing the ten minutes we were on the water, I loosened 
Lieutenant Galvanye's clothing, made his position 
somewhat easier, and felt for his heart, which, at that 
time, I was quite sure was beating feebly. When we 
rose from the water and ascended to 1,500 feet, we 
sighted two planes which later proved to be the 
two Yarmouth boats. We picked them up, swung 
into formation, and laid out a course for Yarmouth. 

"At ten minutes to seven, we sighted land, and, 
twenty minutes after, we were resting on the water 
in front of Yarmouth slipway. We at once sum- 
moned medical aid but found that nothing could be 
done. The shot had gone through his head, striking 
the mouth and coming out behind this ear, tearing a 
gash of about two inches in diameter. The boat had 
been more or less riddled, a number of shots tearing 
up the top between the front cockpit and the be- 
ginning of the cowl. The total duration of the flight 
was seven hours and ten minutes." 

Once again this is but a typical narrative — the 
story of an odd day's work by a tiny unit, and, 
ranged behind it, pressing for equal rights of mention, 
stand a multitude of others. Here, reluctantly, these 
must remain untold, but it was happy for the world 
that, in bonds such as these, the future leaders both 



282 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of Britain and America should have been growing up 
together. "There is one outstanding blessing," said 
Mr. Daniels, the Secretary of the United States navy, 
speaking at Springfield, Massachusetts, "which came 
to the world out of the tragedy of war, and that is 
the perfect cooperation, sympathy, and companion- 
ship between the British navy and the American. 
They are together now, and must forever be together 
in the resolve to protect what their valour won, and 
preserve alike for themselves and all the world com- 
plete freedom of the seas." 



CHAPTER XII 

THE HAEVEST OF SEA POWER 

THE bombardment of Durazzo, mentioned in 
the last chapter, took place on October 2, 
1918, and was the last offensive operation, on 
a large scale, undertaken by the Allied navies. Dur- 
ing the fortnight preceding it, there had fallen to the 
Entente armies, in every theatre of war, such a 
series of victories as had never been witnessed in the 
recorded history of mankind. To the sea-borne and 
sea-fed armies in the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria had 
been the first of Germany's allies to make uncondi- 
tional surrender; before the sea-borne and sea-fed 
armies in Syria — brought thither from Great Britain, 
from India, from Australia, and New Zealand — the 
last of Turkey's military power had melted like snow 
in summer; while, upon the Western Front, from the 
Flanders coast to the forest of the Woeuvre, the sea- 
borne and sea-fed British and American armies with 
their sea-equipped French comrades were surging 
forward, under Marshal Foch, in an irresistible tide. 
The end was now apparent, though, at the last, it 
was to come with startling suddenness. Little by 
little, for fifty-two months, scarcely realized by the 
majority of their peoples, hardly realized even by the 
outside world, the Central Empires had been dying 

283 



284 THE HEROIC RECORD 

of sea-hunger. Deprived, like prisoners in a closed 
cliamber, of the oxygen necessary for life — the eco- 
nomic oxygen that could alone be drawn from the free 
oceans of the world, they had come to a point where 
the only choice lay between surrender and extinction. 

Defeated at Jutland so decisively that, as their 
leaders well knew, those sea-windows could never be 
opened by the efforts of their surface ships, their cam- 
paign under water had failed with equal complete- 
ness. Beneath the Dover Barrage, the North Sea 
minefields, and the Straits of Otranto lay their dead 
submarines. Trapped by Q ships, rammed by de- 
stroyers, sunk by armed merchantmen, they had lost 
scores of others — more than two hundred in all had 
been put out of action by the Allied navies — v/hile 
the spirit of admiralty that they had challenged, and 
the fringe of whose code they had been unable to 
grasp, had so ordered the ways of the world's free 
peoples that, even on land, they were reeling before 
them. 

With that picture we might well close, since our 
thesis was but to show that, from Alfred the Great 
to Nelson, our dead admirals lived in their children. 
But the material harvest was still to be gathered, 
though the spiritual was already secure; and, in the 
reception by Vice-Admiral Gough-Calthorpe of the 
first Turkish Emissaries, in the landing at Ostend 
of Sir Roger Keyes, and in the figure of the First 
Sea Lord, Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, standing by Marshal 
Foch to receive the German delegates, there could be 
no mistaking, even by the blindest landsman, of all 
that an inspired sea-power had wrought. "But our 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 285 

navy is undefeated," complained one of the German 
officers, listening to the terms of the armistice. "It 
had only to come out, sir," replied Admiral Wemyss; 
and worse than defeat lay in that reproach. 

Fourteen clauses contained the naval conditions to 
be fulfilled under the terms of the armistice; and the 
total effect of these was to make it impossible for the 
war at sea to be renewed. All naval and mercantile 
marine prisoners were at once to be restored without 
reciprocity; all submarines in certain specified ports, 
capable of putting to sea, were to be handed over; 
SIX battle-cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers, 
two mine-layers, and fifty destroyers were to be 
similarly yielded; and all other surface warships were 
to be paid off and completely disarmed. All mine- 
fields laid by Germany outside German territorial 
waters were to be indicated, and the Allies were to 
have the right of sweeping them up. Freedom of 
access to the Baltic, both to the Allied navies and 
their mercantile marines, was to be granted; but the 
blockade was to be continued, though the provision- 
ing of Germany, if this should prove necessary, was 
contemplated. All naval aircraft were to be concen- 
trated and immobilized at certain specified German 
bases. All merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes, and 
all marine stores in the Belgian ports were to be 
abandoned. The Black Sea ports were to be evacu- 
ated; and all the seized Russian warships were to be 
handed over to the Allies. All Allied merchant ships 
in German hands were to be restored in specified 
ports without reciprocity. There was to be no de- 
struction of ships or material prior to evacuation, 



286 THE HEROIC RECORD 

surrender, or restoration. The German Government 
was further to notify all neutral nations that any 
restrictions imposed by it on their trading vessels, 
whether in return for concessions made or not, were 
immediately cancelled; and, after the signature, there 
were to be no transfers of German merchant shipping 
to any neutral flag. The naval terms presented to 
Austria-Hungary had been of a similar nature. 

That was on November 11th, and already, in the 
east, the last act of the drama had begun. On No- 
vember 9th, there drew in shore, opposite V beach 
on the Gallipoli Peninsula, a large transport and an 
old cruiser laden with British troops. Behind them, 
in the Straits, there plied industriously a great fleet 
of drifters and mine-sweepers, no longer under fire, 
and clearing a way through the minefields for the fleet 
that was to occupy the Sea of Marmora. Before 
them, a gray bulk, lay the River Clyde, beached as 
before and alone with her memories, and, on the hill 
above, stood a little group of Turkish artillerymen 
waiting to yield up the guns of Cape Helles. From 
these two transports, there presently put to shore, one 
on the Asiatic side, and one on V beach, two flat- 
bottomed barges each carrying 500 men. Such, with- 
out pomp, and almost in silence, was the second 
landing on Gallipoli Peninsula. 

The next day, followed by the French destroyer 
Mangini, the youngest destroyer in the British navy 
— le roi est mort, vive le roi, the Shark had been lost 
at Jutland; this was the new one — anchored, the 
symbol of victory, off Constantinople; and, on No- 
vember 13th, the British and French Fleets, led by 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 287 

the flagship Superb, steamed to their anchorage. 
Superb, TSmeraire, Lord Nelson, and Agamemnon — 
half the world's history lay in their names — they were 
followed by the cruisers and destroyer-flotillas of the 
British fleet of occupation. Behind them came a 
French squadron, followed in its turn by the Italian 
and Greek warships, the bulk of the fleets remaining 
in the Sea of Marmora, and only certain units enter- 
ing the Bosphorus. The Superb and TSmSraire an- 
chored near the European shore, facing the Sultan's 
Palace and the Chamber of Deputies; astern of them 
lay the French, and, behind these again, the Italian 
and the Greek men-of-war. Every precaution against 
treachery had been taken, but this proved to be un- 
necessary; and, within the next two or three weeks, 
the whole of the Turkish Fleet and the battle-cruiser 
Goeben had been formally surrendered. With them, 
unseen, but none the less present, the German empire 
of the East had given up its sceptre. 

Meanwhile, in the North Sea, two thousand miles 
away, more than that had laid down its arms; and 
there had begun off Harwich, on Wednesday, Novem- 
ber 20th, the delivery into our hands of the German 
submarines. Conceived in sin, these had been foul 
from the beginning — they had never even been built 
but as instruments of murder — and it was perhaps 
fitting that they should be the first of the German 
Fleet to be handed over. Nor had any admiral 
earned a better right to receive them than Sir Regi- 
nald Tyrwhitt. Leaving by moonlight at 5 o'clock 
in the morning in his flagship the Curacoa, followed 
by the light cruisers Dragon^ Centaur, Coventry, Dance, 



288 THE HEROIC RECORD 

and an escort of destroyers, the leading German sub- 
marines were encountered at the appointed rendez- 
vous soon after seven. This was at a spot thirty-five 
miles east of Harwich, all the British crews being at 
Action Stations, and the German submarines accom- 
panied by two transports that were to take their 
crews back to Germany, 

The first of these to appear through the mist was 
the ex-hospital ship Sierra Ventana followed by the 
Titania, succeeded in her turn by the long single file 
of the first detachment of twenty submarines. While 
Admiral Tyrwhitt advanced toward the end of the 
line, the cruiser Dragon was detached to lead the 
procession inshore, a couple of airships and three sea- 
planes passing and repassing overhead. 

The next rendezvous was to be near Cutler's Buoy, 
some eight miles out of Harwich, where, from British 
destroyers, the crews were to be embarked that would 
take the submarines into harbour. These were met 
at about half -past ten, and there then ensued a scene 
of humiliation such as no great Power had ever passed 
through since men first went down to the sea in ships. 
Those of the Germans that were necessary to run 
the engines were to be retained at their posts, but the 
navigating crews for the twenty submarines were 
waiting in the Melampus and FiredraJce, Strict orders 
had been issued that there were to be no demonstra- 
tions; and indeed it was rather with contempt — ^per- 
haps with a sort of amazed half -pity — that the British 
sailors took up their duties. 

In each case the process was the same. The Brit- 
ish officer who was to take command saluted as he 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 289 

stepped aboard. The German officer, with his papers 
ready, met him, and handed these over for inspection. 
The German crew was then sent forward. The Brit- 
ish navigating officer occupied the conning-tower, 
and the engineer-officer went below to superintend 
the working of the German engine-room ratings. 
Leaving the transports behind, and accompanied by 
destroyers, the twenty U boats, in groups of five, then 
proceeded up the channel of the Stour, passing be- 
tween the gate-ships of the buoyed steel nets. As each 
came to anchorage just off Parkeston Quay, she was 
met by a motor-launch, into which her crew was 
disembarked; and these, amidst the silence of thou- 
sands of spectators, were conveyed to the destroyers 
that took them back to the transports. From be- 
ginning to end there was no demonstration of any 
kind; and none was to greet the remainder of the 
submarines — a hundred and twenty in all — that fol- 
lowed them. From shame to shame, blotting the 
seas, they passed without comment to their prison. 

With equal truth that can be said of the procession 
that the next day was to witness, though here the note 
struck was one of a tragedy of which the surrendering 
U boats had been incapable. For, in the mighty 
ships of the High Seas Fleet — travesties though they 
had become, as instruments of admiralty — there had 
been, as the British navy felt, at least the possibilities 
of an honourable end. Proudly built, they dated 
from an era in which the U boat horror was still 
unimagined; and, in the hands of a Drake, could Ger- 
many have produced one, they might have postponed 
surrender and gone down in glory. Materially as 



290 THE HEROIC RECORD 

they had recovered, however, from their defeat at 
Jutland, from the moral reverse they had never looked 
up; and the disintegration had been completed by 
Germany's own submarine policy. Lacking a soul, 
the body had died; and, to many who witnessed 
that procession of corpses, there was a sense of 
almost personal indecency at presiding over such a 
ceremony. 

It was a quarter to four in the morning of Novem- 
ber 21st when the Grand Fleet began to get under 
way to form the two mighty and moving walls be- 
tween which the Germans were to approach the Firth 
of Forth; and the advanced destroyer-flotillas and 
light cruisers had set out for the rendezvous the 
night before. For ten days the North Sea had been 
shrouded in a thick mist, but, as the sun rose, the 
clouds blew off, and the sea lay clear and white- 
feathered. Later, and at different places along the 
hundred miles or so occupied by the parallel lines of 
the Grand Fleet, the mists were to triumph again, 
but only half-heartedly, and with the sun soon re- 
asserting itself. 

Six miles separated the two lines, and at half-past 
eight they went to Action Stations, the leading ships 
of the High Seas Fleet having been picked up an hour 
before by the easternmost British units. Directing 
the whole operation — directing, at that moment, the 
vastest fleet that this planet had seen — Admiral 
Beatty, in his flagship the Queen Elizabeth, had taken 
his position in the northern line, his second-in-com- 
mand. Admiral Sir Charles Madden, leading the 
southern-line battleships in the Revenge, Guiding the 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 291 

Germans, in the light cruiser Cardiff, was Rear- 
Admiral Alexander-Sinclair. 

Of the promised total, one light cruiser, the Kbln, 
had broken dqwn and had had to turn back, and one 
destroyer had struck a mine, going to the bottom, 
though her crew had been rescued; but, behind the 
Cardiff , in a slow series, moved what had been the 
cream of the world's second navy. Led by the Battle- 
Cruiser Squadron, the Hindenburg, Derfflinger, Seyd- 
litz, Moltke, and von der Tann, came the battleships 
Friedrich der Grosse, flying the German Rear-Ad- 
miral's flag, the Bayern, Grosser Kurfiirst, Kronprinz 
Wilhelnii Markgraf, Kaiserin, Konig Alhrecht, Prinz 
Regent Luitpold, and Kaiser. Behind these again 
steamed the six light cruisers, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, 
Emden, Nilrnberg, Brummer, and Bremen; and, bring- 
ing up the rear, steaming in five lines, and sandwiched 
between British escorts, were the remaining forty- 
nine destroyers of the fifty that had been demanded 
under the terms of the armistice. 

So they steamed on, docile to every order, and, 
when the last of them had been deeply contained. 
Admiral Beatty gave the signal for the right-about- 
turn of the Grand Fleet. Surrounded on all sides, 
filthy, as was afterward to be discovered, and with 
their men abject and undisciplined, before they 
reached their anchorage near Inchkeith Island, Ad- 
miral Beatty had issued the following order: "The 
German flag is to be hauled down," he said, "at 3.57 
to-day, and is not to be hoisted again without per- 
mission." That was at sunset; and, a moment after, 
Germany had ceased, even in name, to be a sea power. 



292 THE HEROIC RECORD 

So ends our chronicle, for, though there was still 
work to be done, the navy's long vigil was at an end. 
Far to the north, it was true, the converted merchant- 
men of the unsung Tenth Squadron still held to their 
task — still patiently examined, as month after month, 
in all kinds of weather, they had been stopping and 
examining, such innocent-seeming ships as, to their 
experienced eyes, might be blockade-runners. But 
the main task was over — the shouldering of the ar- 
mies' burdens that had never ceased for one moment, 
the endless battle, with the world for its theatre, that 
it had waged for four and a quarter years. From 
President Wilson to the Sheriff of Mecca, it had been 
the good servant of all; and now, with its duty well 
and truly done, a certain quiet satisfaction might be 
permitted. There was no fear of this being too exu- 
berant — as a corporate body, the navy was not that. 
It would rather rejoice in the general spirit of Admiral 
Tyrwhitt's advice to his men on Armistice Day. Ex- 
horting them to be as cool in peace as they had been 
in war, and to return to their ships in good order, he 
concluded by informing them that, in the evening, an 
extra tot of rum would be served. 

Let that be the excuse for a last word. We have 
been tempted to suggest that the war was won by sea 
power. We were wrong. It was won by sailors — 
equally of the mercantile marine as of the navy. 
From Coronel to Kiao-Chao, from Archangel to Co- 
cos-Keeling, no less in Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes, 
stumbling through a Turkish farmyard, than in Ad- 
miral Jellicoe at Whitehall, no less in Lieutenant 
Brown, trying to salve the Wellington, than in Sir 



OF THE BRITISH NAVY 293 

David Beatty directing the Grand Fleet, it was the 
men that triumphed, by virtue of the spirit in them, 
and the great traditions that they had inherited — to 
be handed on in turn, as it had been handed down to 
themselves by Raleigh and Blake, Collingwood and 
Nelson. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abdiel, 197 

iEgean Sea, 108, 109, 129 

Agamemnon. 122, 123, 127, 130, 
287 

Akaba, 107 

Albemarle, 23 

Albion. 123, 127, 130, 140, 147 

Alcester, 198 

Alexander-Sinclair, Commander E. 
S., 172, 191 

AUardyce, Hon. W. L., 60 

Allen, Captain, 78, 80, 81 

Alleyne, Lieutenant Sir John, 248, 
249 

Amethyst. 27, 42, 140, 141 

Amphion, 85 

Andrews, Rear-Admiral Philip, 272 

Anzac Cove, 137, 149 

Aquitania, 261 

Arbuthnot, Rear-Admiral Sir Rob- 
ert, 186, 196 

Arethusa, 22, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 
38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 90, 99 

Arkansas, 270 

Ariadne, 40 

Arizona, 256 

Askold, 107 

Asquith, Right Hon. H. H., 11, 
105, 116, 118, 134, 151 

Attack, 98, 99 

Attentive, 209 

Aurora, 90, 91 

Aztec, 252 

B-11. 107, 152, 15.3, 154 

Bacchante, 42, 137 

Bacon, Vice-Admiral Sir R. H., 

211, 212, 214, 230 
Baden, 48, 64, 67, 83 
Balfour, Right Hon., A. J., 19, 

119, 202, 226 



Bamford, Captain, 243 

Bankfield, 49 

Barham, 170, 173 

Barker, Captain, 278 

Bartolome, Commodore, 115 

Bay em, 291 

Bayly, Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis, 

260, 261 
Beatty, Admiral Sir David, 6, 22, 

23, 40, 41, 90, 91, 96, 98, 167, 

170, 171, 172, 173, 175, 181, 

184, 191, 193, 202, 250, 270, 

290, 291, 293 
Belgian Prince, 89 
Bellerophon, 23 
Benn, Commander Hamilton, M. 

P., 230, 245 
Benson, Admiral, 258 
Berk-i-Satvet, 107 
Bethmann-Hollweg, Herr von, 9 
Billyard-Leake, Lieutenant B., 

227, 230, 238 
Bingham, Commander, Hon. E. 

B. B., 179 
Birmingham, 90, 194 
Birmingham, U. S. S., 262 
Bird, Captain F. G., 212 
Birdwood, General, 125, 126, 133, 

134 
Blacker, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 97, 98 
Blunt, Captain W. P., 34, 35 
Bonham-Carter, Lieutenant S., 

230, 238 
Borkum Reef, 98 
Boue de Lapeyere, Admiral, 101 
Bourke, Lieutenant, 244, 249 
Bouvet, 122, 127, 130, 132 
Bradford, Lieutenant-Commander, 

235 
Brandt, Captain, 50 
Bremen, 291 



297 



298 



INDEX 



Brest. 261, 262 

Breslau, 46, 100, 101, 102 

Brighton Queen, 212 

Brilliant, 227, 244, 247 

Bristol, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 83 

Britannia, 11, 17 

Britton, Alfred, 37 

Brock, Wing-Cominander, 226, 237 

Brock, Rear-Admiral, Osmond de 
B., 98, 170 

Broke, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219 

Brown, Lieutenant Fletcher W., 
266, 269, 292 

Bruges, 224 

Brummer, 291 

Buchanan, Sir George, 108 

Burney, Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil, 
170, 193 

Bvu-y, Engineer Lieutenant-Com- 
mander, 244, 248 

C-3, 230 

Callaghan, Admiral Sir George, 

9, 10, 15, 16, 102 
Campbell, Captain Gordon, 204, 

205, 206 
Campbell, Chief Artificer-Engin- 
eer, 240, 242 
Campbell, Lieutenant Harold, 230, 

239 
Campbell, Rear-Admiral H. H., 

42 
Canopus, 50, 51, 53, 57, 61, 63, 65, 

66 
Garden, Vice-Admiral, 113, 114, 

115, 117, 121, 122, 128 
Cardijg; 291 
Carnarvon, 62, 63, 67, 69, 72, 

73, 76 
Carpenter, Captain A. F. B., 230, 

232, 233, 235, 239, 241, 243 
Carroll, Engine-Room Artificer, 

N., 244 _ 
Carson, Right Hon., Sir Edward, 

226 
Cavanagh, Engine-Room Artificer, 

H., 244 
Centaur, 287 

Chanak, Fort, 127, 128, 130 
Chappell, Petty-OflScer Robert, 

211 



Charlemagne, 123, 127, 130 
Chater, Captain, 232 
Chesapeake, 216, 254 
Chester, 183 

Chichester, Captain, 257 
Christian, Rear-Admiral A. H., 42 
Churchill, Right Hon. Winston, 

4, 8, 22, 105, 106, 108, 113, 114. 

115, 116, 118, 119, 124, 125, 

127, 128, 133 
Cockburn, Acting Lieutenant G. 

L., 247 
CoUard, Commander, 143 
Collins, Captain R., 230 
Constantinople, 102, 106, 110, 

111, 112, 116, 120, 126, 155, 

156, 286, 
Corfu, 259, 263, 273 
Cordner, Major, 232 
Cornwall, 63, 65, 67, 74, 75, 76, 

77, 78, 79 
Cornwallis, 122, 123, 140, 148 
Cornwell, John Travers, 183 
Coronel, 44, 50, 292 
Coventry, 287 

Cradock, Vice-Admiral Sir Chris- 
topher, 50, 53, 54, 55, 57, 62 
Cressy, 42 

Crewe, Marquis of, 105 
Cromie, Captain Francis, 152, 

162, 164, 165, 166 
Crutchley, Lieutenant V. A. C, 

248, 249 
Curacoa, 287 
Curtis, Captain Berwick, 197 

D-2, 32 
D-8, 32 
Daffodil, 227, 230, 233, 235, 236, 

239 
D'Amade, General, 129 
Dance, 287 
Daniels, Mr., 282 
Dardanelles, 101, 102, 106, 107, 

108, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 119, 

120, 126, 130, 132, 151, 152, 

153 155 
Dardanos, Fort, 111, 126, 130, 131 
Dartmouth, Royal Naval College, 

11 
Dean, Lieutenant Percy, 238, 21? 



INDEX 



S99 



Defender, 196 

Defence, 186, 189 

Delaware, 270 

Derfflinger, 89, 90, 92, 172, 180, 291 

De Robeck, Vice- Admiral Sir John 
M., 128, 132, 133, 134, 135, 167 

Dewey. Admiral, 195, 256, 257 

Dimmock, A. B. E., 211 

Dingle, Stoker Alfred, 240 

Dixon, Midshipman Hugh, 131 

Dogger Bank, 98, 99 

Doughty-Wylie, Lieutenant-Col- 
onel, 148 

Douglas, Commander H. P., 231 

Dragon, 287 

Dreadnought; 20, 21 

Dresden, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 
55 

Drewry, Midshipman G. L., 146 

Drummond, Lieutenant G. H., 
248, 249 

Drummuir, 68 

Dublin, 140, 141 

De Boulay, Sub-Lieutenant, 210 

Duff, Rear- Admiral Alexander, 170 

Dunraven, 204, 205, 206 

Durazzo, 275, 276, 283 

E-i, 32, 35 

E-5, 32 

E-6, E-8, 27, 32, 83 

E-7, 32, 33 

E-9, 32, 161 

E-11, 155, 156, 157, 160 

E-U, 157 

E-19, 162, 164 

Easter Island, 49 

Eaton, Ensign, 281 

Elhot, Lieutenant-Colonel Ber- 
tram, 230, 232 

Elsinore, 49 

Emden, 49, 90, 291 

Engadine, 173 

Enver Pasha, 135 

Erebus, 231 

Esmonde, Midshipman John, 71 

Euryalus, 140, 142 

Evans, Commander E. R., 216 

Evan-Thomas, Rear-Admiral, 170, 
180, 185, 188 

Excellent, 17 



Falcon, 210 

Falmouth, 189 

Favereau, Admiral, 210 

Fearless, 27, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 
41, 180 

Felton, Mrs. Roy, 67 

Finch, Sergeant, 235, 243 

Firedrake, 27, 32, 33, 38, 288 

Fisher, Lord, of Kilverstone, 17, 
19, 61, 99, 104, 106, 114, 115, 
116, 119, 124, 132, 134, 202 

Florida, 271 

Foch, Marshal, 283, 284 

Foresight, 209 

Frankfurt, 291 

Frank, Lieutenant Ivan B., 227 

Frauenlob, 198 

Friedrich der Grosse, 291 

Gaba Tepe, 136, 140, 141 

Galatea, 172 

Galvayne, Lieutenant, 280, 281 

Gartside Tipping, Lieutenant- 
Commander H. T., 213 

Gaulois, 122, 123, 127, 130, 131 

Gaunt, Rear-Admiral Ernest, 170 

Geddes, Sir Eric, 226 

General Crauford, 231 

Gibbs, Commander Valentine, 230, 
236 

Gibraltar, 68, 116, 262, 273 

Glasgow, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 55, 

56, 57, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 
69, 70, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79 

Gloucester, 101 

Gneisenau, 46, 47, 50, 52, 53, 55, 

57, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77, 122 
Godsal, Commander, 244, 247, 248 
Goeben, 46, 100, 101, 107, 289 
Goeben, Fort, 225 

Goliath, 140, 141 
Goodenough, Commodore, 177 
Good Hope, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 78 
Goschen, Lord, 3 
Goschen, Sir Edward, 9 
Gough-Calthorpe, Vice-AdmiraJ, 

284 
Grant, Captain, 227 
Great Heart, 212 
Grey, Viscount, 8, 9, 10, 18, 14, 

22, 24, 106, 191 



300 



INDEX 



Grosser Kiirfiirst, 291 

Gutrune, 162 

Gyles, Midshipman, 218 

Halahan, Captain, 232 

Hall, Captain Reginald, 41 

Hamidieh, 107 

Hamilton, General Sir Ian, 127, 

128, 132, 134, 149 
Hardy, Lieutenant-Commander, 

245 
Harris, Engine-Room Artificer, H., 

244 
Harrison, Lieutenant E. C, 245 
Haselfoot, Lieutenant-Com- 
mander, 231 
Hawkins, Lieutenant, 235 
Healdton. 252 
Hela, 161 
HeUes, Cape, 111, 122, 136, 142. 

154, 286 
Henri IV, 132 
Hindenburg, 291 
Hoare, Lieutenant, 244 
Hobson, Lieutenant, 223, 255 
Hogue, 42 
Holbrook, Lieutenant-Commander 

Norman, 152, 154, 155 
Holmwood, 48 
Hood, Rear-Admiral Hon. Horace 

A. L., 183, 184, 185, 196, 209, 

210 
Horn Reef, 32, 198 
Horton, Commander Max, 152, 

161 
Eumber, 209 
Hughes, Lieutenant Guy D'Oyly, 

152, 157, 160, 292 
Byades, 48 

Imbros, 135, 149, 150, 155 
Implacable, 132, 140, 141, 142 
Indefatigable, 170, 173, 175, 198 
Indomitable, 90, 93, 94, 96, 97, 193 
Inflexible. 61, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 

69, 71, 73, 122, 130, 131 
Ingelson, Able Seaman, 218 
Intrepid, 227, 230, 237, 238 
Intrepide, 210 
Invincible, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 

69, 71, 72, 183, 184 



IpMgenia, 227, 230, 238 
Iris, 227, 230, 235 
Iron Duke, 5, 170, 173, 193, 202 
Irresistible, 123, 130, 131 

Jackson, Admiral Sir Henry, 115, 

120, 134, 202 
Jacobs, Able Seaman Levi, 145 
Janvein, Lieutenant-Commander 

Ralph B., 148 
Jellicoe, Viscount, of Scapa Flow, 

15. 16, 18, 19, 21, 23. 170, 171, 

175, 180, 183, 185, 191, 192, 

197, 201, 202. 226. 292 
Jerram, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas, 

170 
Johnston, Commodore C. D., 212 
Jones, Commander Loftus, 190 

Kaiser, 291 

Kaiserin, 291 

Karlsruhe, 49, 84, 291 

Kent, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 74, 75, 

76, 78, 80, 81, 82 
Kephalos Bay, 149 
Kephez Point, 111, 114, 130 
Keyes, Lieutenant - Commander 

Adrian St. V., 141 
Keyes, Vice-Admiral Sir Roger, 

28, S3, 39, 42. 135, 226, 229, 

231, 243, 244, 245, 284 
Kiao-Chao, 45, 47, 292 
Kitchener, Viscount, of Khartoum, 

104, 105, 106, 108, 115, 116, 

119, 125, 127, 133 
Kolberg, 91 
Koln, 40, 41 
Konig Albrecht, 291 
Konigin Luise, 85 



Kronprinz Wilhelm, 84, 291 
Kum Kale, 111, 122, 126, 136, 148 

Laconia, 252 
Landrail, 175 
Laurel, 35, 36, 41, 42 
Lawson, Captain R. N., 183 
Leckie, Captain, 277, 278 
Leipzig, 46, 47, 49, 52, 54, 55, 57, 

68, 69, 75, 76, 77, 79 
Leir, Commander E. W., 37 



INDEX 



301 



Lenmos, 121, 135, 149, 150 
Leveson, Rear-Admiral Arthur, 

170 
Leviathan, 261 
Libertad, 122 
Liberty, 42 
Lion, 6, 22, 33, 40, 41, 90, 93, 94, 

95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 170, 172, 177, 

180, 193, 196 
Littleton, Lieutenant, 23'* 
Lloyd George, Right Hon. David, 

105 
London, 137 

Longmore, Wing-Commander, 212 
Lord Clive, 231 
Lord Nelson, 127, 130, 140, 145, 

148, 287 
Lowestoft, 90 

Luce, Captain, 70, 74, 75, 78 
Lulfa, 162 

Lurcher, 27, 32, 33, 38, 42 
Lusitania, 89, 251 
Lutzow, 172, 180 
Lydiard, 175 
Lynes, Commodore Hubert, 230, 

245 

Macedonia, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 83 
McKenzie, Able Seaman Albert 

E„ 243 
MacLachlan, Sub-Lieutenant, 248 
Maaden, Vice- Admiral Sir Charles, 

290 
Mainz, 39, 40 
Malleson, Midshipman W. St. A., 

147 
Mangini, 286 
Markgraf, 291 
Marlborough, 193, 198 
Marmora, Sea of, 109, 112, 114, 

128, 151, 155, 157, 286, 287 
Marshal Souk, 231 
Mauretania, 261 
Maxwell, General Sir John, 126 
Mayes, Sergeant, 81 
Mayo, Admiral, 258 
Meade, Captain the Hon. H., 95 
Melampus, 288 
Mellow, Commander W., 129 
Mersey, 209 
Mesaudiyeh, 107, 153 



Metcalfe, Captain C. P., 131 

Meteor, 95, 96 

Meux, Admiral the Hon. Hed- 

worth, 102 
Milne, Rear-Admiral Sir Berkeley, 

101, 102 
Minerva, 107, 140 
Moltke, 89, 90, 92, 172, 291, 
Monmouth, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57. 

58 
Moorsom, 176 
Moresby, 184 
Morris, 176 
Morto Bay, 136, 148 
Motor-Launch 282, 239 
Mudros, 135, 140, 149 

Napier, Rear-Admiral, 184, 189 

Narborough, 176 

Nasmith, Lieutenant-Commander, 

152, 155, 156, 157 
Nelson, Captain C. P.. 275 
Nerissa, 176 
Nestor, 176, 179, 198 
New York, 256, 270 
New Zealand, 90, 93, 94, 97, 170, 

173, 186, 193 
Nevada, 256 

Niblack, Rear-Admiral, 263 
Nicator, 176, 179 
Nicholas, Grand Duke, 119 
Nicomedia, 162 
Niger, 3, 5 
Noel, Quartermaster, 1st class, 

Robert Emanuel, 269 
Nomad, 176, 179 
NurvOyregi 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 57, 

64, 68, 69, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 82, 

291 

Obdurate, 176 

Ocean, 127, 130, 131 

Oklahoma, 266 

Oliver, Vice-Admiral Sir Henry, 

115 
Olympic, 261 
Onslow, 184, 196 
Orkanieh, Fort, 111, 122 
Ortega, 48 
Osborne, Commander E. 0., B. S., 

228 



302 



INDEX 



Osborne, Seaman James, 269 
Ostend, 201, 207, 211, 215, 222, 

223, 224, 225, 231, 243, 246, 247, 

250 
Otranto, 50, 52, 53, 55 
Otranto, Straits of, 101, 273, 284 

Pakenham, Rear-Admiral W. C, 

170 
Papeete, 49 

Peck, Commander Ambrose, 216 
Pelican, 176 
Pennsylvania, 256 
Peploe, Lieutenant C. R., 36 
Pernamhuco, 162 
Persius, Captain, 200 
Petard, 176, 194 

Peterson, Coxswain John A., 269 
Peters, Lieutenant Frederick, 95 
Phillpotts, Captain, 189 
Poland, Lieutenant A. L., 246 
Pommern, 198 
Port Arthur, 113, 223 
Port Stanley, 59, 60, 62, 63, 78, 82 
Port William, 60, 61, 62, 63 
Prince Eugene, 231 
Prince George, 127, 130, 140 
Prince of Wales, 137 
Princess Royal, 90, 92, 93, 94, 96, 

97, 98, 99, 170, 177, 193 
Prinz Eitel Friedrich, 84 
Prinz Regent Luitpold, 291 
Prize, 204, 206 

Queen, 132, 137 

Queen Elizabeth, 113, 116, 123, 127, 

130 131 290 
Queer! Mary, 42, 170, 177, 178, 

179, 198 
Queenstown, 259, 260, 262, 273 

Ramsgate Boarding Flotilla, 208 
Reed, Petty Officer, 249 
Reid, Lieutenant Darrel, 246 
Revenge, 290 
Reventlow, Coimt, 89 
Rigg, Commander W., 212 
River Clyde, 144, 145, 146, 147, 286 
Robinson, Lieutenant-Commander 
E. G., 124 



Rodman, Rear-Admiral Hugh, 270 
Rose, Commander F., 36, 41 

S-im, 161 

Sacramento, 263 

St. George, 23 

Samson, G. McK., 147 

Sanda, 212 

Sanders, Lieutenant-Commander 

F., 236 
Sandford, Lieutenant R. D., 230, 

236, 243 
Santa Isabel, 48, 64, 67, 83 
San Stefano, Peace of. Ill 
Sapper's Hill, 63, 64, 65, 66 
Sapphire, 140, 141 
Sappho, 244, 246 
Saros, Gulf of, 109, 127 
S Beach, 136, 148 
Scharnhorst, 46, 47, 50, 52, 53, 

55, 57, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 77, 122 
Sedd-el-Bahr, 111, 122, 136, 144, 

148 
Seneca, U. S. S., 266, 268 
Severn, 209 

Seydlitz, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 172, 291 
Shannon, 216, 254 
Shark, 189, 286 
Sirius, 227, 244, 247 
Sneyd, Commander Ralph S., 230, 

237 
Soghandere, Fort, 111, 126, 130 
Southampton, 90, 177, 180 
Stirling, Captain A. J. B., 195 
Stoddart, Rear-Admiral, 62, 
Sturdee, Vice- Admiral Sir F. Dove- 
ton, 61. 62, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73. 

74, 82, 91, 167, 170, 183 
Suffren, 122, 127, 130 
Superb, 287 

Sutton, Artificer-Engineer, 240 
Suvla Bay, 149 
Swift, 215, 216, 217, 219 
Svdftsure, 130, 140 

Talbot, 140, 141 

Tatnall, Lieutenant Josiah, 267 

Taylor, Coxswain William James, 

269 
Tekeh, Cape, 136, 142 



INDEX 



303 



Tem&aire, 23, 287 

Tenedos, 135 

Termagant, 176 

Terror, 231 

Texas, 256, 270 

Thetis, 227, 230, 237 

Thomas, Engine-Room Artificer 
A., 244 

Thursby, Rear-Admiral C. F., 137 

Tiger, 90, 93, 94, 95, 170, 177, 179 

Tipperary, 195 

Titania, 288 

Toey-Wan, 257 

Tomkinson, Captain Wilfred, 231 

Tonopah, 271 

Townsend, Captain, 143 

Tovey, Lieutenant-Commander J. 
C, 196 

Trelawney, 63 

THumph, 122, 123, 130, 137 

Troubridge, Rear-Admiral E. C. 
T., 101, 102 

Turbulent, 176, 194, 198 

Tyne, 167 _ 

Tyrwhitt, Vice-Admiral Sir Reg- 
inald, 22, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 
90. 287, 288, 292 

Undaunted, 90 

Undine, 162, 163 

Unwin, Commander Edward, 144, 

L_146, 147 

V-187, 37 ^ 

Valentino, 68 

Valiant, 170, 173 

V Beach, 136, 141, 143, 148, 286 

Venerable, 210 

Vengeance, 123, 127, 130,. 140 

Victoria and Albert, 5, 6 

VigUancia, 252 

Vindictive, 228, 230, 231, 232, 
233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 240, 
243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249 

Vine Branch, 49 

Von der Tann, 89, 172, 291 



Von Hipper, Admiral, 172, 173, 

175, 180, 181 
Von Sanders, General Liman, 135 
Von Scheer, Admiral, 180, 181, 185 
Von Spee, Admiral, 46, 47, 49, 

50, 51, 52, 54, 5Q, 57, 62, 63, 

65, 68, 72, 83, 84, 90 

W Beach, 136, 140, 142, 144 
Walker, Lieutenant H. T. C, 234 
Warrington, 265, 266, 267, 269 
Warrior, 187, 188, 189 
Warspite, 170, 173, 187, 188, 189, 

198 
Warvdck, 230, 239, 245, 249 
Wanton, Lieutenant, 210 
Wear, 131 
Weller, Major, 234 
Wellington, 265, 266, 267, 268, 

270, 292 
Wellman, Lieutenant A. E. P., 

230, 246 
Wemyss, Admiral Sir Rosslyn E., 

129, 140, 284, 285 
Westmacott, Lieutenant, 35 
Whittaker, Private, 77 
Wiesbaden, 198 
WiUiams, Able Seaman, 147 
Williams, Lieutenant-Colonel, 148 
Wilson, Admiral Sir A., 104, 115, 

116, 117, 124, 132, 134 
Wilson, Rear-Admiral H. B., 262 
Wilson, President Woodrow, 252, 

292 
Wintour, Captain, 195 
Wise, Lieutenant E, S., 210 ^ 
Woodfield, Petty-Officer, 218 
Wyoming, 270 

X Beach, 136, 141, 143 

Y Beach, 136, 140, 141 
Yarmouth, 189 

Zeebrugge, 201, 207, 211, 215, 
222, 223, 224, 227, 230, 231, 240. 
244, 250 




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